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Class J 5 -155 
Book _E~4-_3 






s 















FACTORY MANAGEMENT 
COURSE AND SERVICE 


A Series of Interlocking Text Books Written for the 
Industrial Extension Institute by Factory Man¬ 
agers and Consulting Engineers as Part 
of the Factory Management 
Course and Service 



INDUSTRIAL EXTENSION INSTITUTE 

INCORPORATED 

NEW YORK 


N 





ADVISORY 

Nicholas Thiel Kicker, Pres., 
Pres. Ficker Recording Mch. 
Co. 

Charles E. Funk, Secy., 
Formerly Managing Editor, 
“Industrial Management .” 

Ohas. A. Brockavvay, Treas., 
Formerly Business Manager, 
The Engineering Magazine 
Co. 

Alwin von Auw, 

Cen. Mgr., Boorum-Pease Co. 

W. R. Basset, 

Pres. Miller-Franklin-Basset 

Co., 


COUNCIL. 

Charles C. Coodrich, 
Goodrich-Lockhart Co. 

Jervis R. Harbeck, 

Vice-Pres. American Can Co. 

Benj. A. Franklin, 

V-Pres. Strathmore Paper Co. 
Major, Ordnance Dept., U.S.R. 

Willard F. Hine, 

Chief Gas Engr., Public Serv¬ 
ice Comm., N. Y. 

Irving A. Berndt, 

Mgr. Betterment Dept., Jos. T. 
Ryerson Co. 


Charles B. Going, 

Major, Ordnance Dept., U. S. R. 
Chairman Ex. Board, Soc. Industrial Engineers. 


STAFF AUTHORS. 

Willard L. Case, The Factory Buildings. 

Pres. Willard L. Case & Co., Cons. 

Engrs. 

David Moffat Myers, The Power Plant. 

Griggs & Myers, Cons. Engr. 

Joseph W. Roe, The Mechanical Equipment. 

Aeronautical-Mech. Engr., U. S. A. 

Albert A. Dowd, Tools and Patterns. 

Consulthig Engineer. 

William F. Hunt, Handling Material in Factories 

Consulting Industrial Engineer. 

C. E. Knoeppel, Organization and Administra- 

Pres. C. E. Knoeppel & Co., Cons. TION. 

Engrs. 

Meyer Bloomfield, Labor and Compensation. 

Head of Industrial Service Dept., 

Emergency Fleet Corp. 

George S. Armstrong, Planning and Time-Studies. 

Consulting Industrial Engineer. 

H. B. Twyford. Purchasing and Storing. 

Purchasing Dept., Otis Elevator Co. 

Nicholas Thiel Ficker, Industrial Cost-Finding. 

Pres. Ficker Recording Mch. Co. 

Dwight T. Farnham, Executive Statistical Control. 

Cons. Industrial Engineer. 

Charles W. McKay, Valuing Industrial Properties. 

Appraisal Engr., McMecn d Miller. 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN 

FACTORIES 


BY 

WILLIAM F. HUNT 


!\ 

Consulting Engineer 


VOLUME 5 

FACTORY MANAGEMENT COURSE 


INDUSTRIAL EXTENSION INSTITUTE 

INCORPORATED 


NEW YORK 



Copyright, 1920, by 

INDUSTRIAL EXTENSION INSTITUTE 

INCORPORATED 

2 y/ 




PREFACE 


It is my purpose in writing this book to equip the reader 
with the information that he needs to enable him to intro¬ 
duce methods for reducing the cost of handling materials in 
his factory. 

To enable him to accomplish this result, his attention is 
called to the symptoms that indicate the possibility of sav¬ 
ings, and a method is provided for quickly selecting the situa¬ 
tions which offer sufficient savings to justify careful study. 

Methods of collecting the facts necessary to make wise deci¬ 
sions are outlined, and a thorough method of analysis ap¬ 
plicable to any case is provided by means of which the rela¬ 
tive economies of the various plans may be compared. 

A description is given of the various commercial apparatus 
that can be used to secure economic results, together with an 
outline of their uses and limitations. 

Great care has been devoted to making it easy to select the 
type of machinery best adapted to particular needs. A 
method of quick reference to the mechanisms indicated and 
to their individual peculiarities and limitations, has been 
worked out. It has been my effort to give as concisely as 
possible all the information that is of real value regarding 
any particular apparatus. 

For the sake of effectiveness, lengthy descriptions and argu¬ 
ments are omitted—general principles are outlined, enabling 
the reader to apply them effectively to his particular 
problems. 

William Floyd Hunt. 


V 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 


CHAPTER I 

THE HANDLING PROBLEM 

PAGE 

Foreword. 1 

Historical Developments. 2 

A Definition of Economy. 5 

The Fundamental Principles. 5 

Conditions Conducive to Labor Savings. 7 

Simplicity. 8 

Confusing Elements.10 

Avoiding Superficial Solutions.11 

Choice of Methods.12 


CHAPTER II 

THE SOLUTION OF THE HANDLING PROBLEM 


Economy in Handling.15 

Cost Reduction.17 

The Time Factor.18 

Mental Decision.19 

Increased Productivity.21 

Continuous Production.22 

Purchased versus Home-Made Equipment .... 24 

General Rules.25 

A Real Handling Problem.25 

Optimism and Perseverance Essential 26 




















viii TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Pleasure in the Task.27 

Two Heads Better Than One.27 

Planning, a “Human” Job.28 

Program to Follow.29 

Inertia of Habit.30 

Fostering the Right Attitude in Operatives .... 31 

Psychology of Leadership.32 

CHAPTER III 

IDEALS IN HANDLING 

Conservation.33 

Requisites in Handling.34 

The Practical Questions.36 

Indications of Excessive Costs.37 

Preliminary Analysis.39 

Summary.41 

CHAPTER IV 

ANALYZING THE FINANCIAL RETURNS 

Importance of Pre-Analysis.42 

Justifiable Expenditure.44 

Factors in the Equation—Interest.50 

Upkeep of Apparatus.50 

Obsolescence. 50 

Depreciation.51 

Extension to Service.53 

Additional Supervision.52 

Cost of Power, Supplies, Waste.52 

Sound Judgment Required.52 

chapter v 

THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 

Loading and Unloading. 55 

Two Types of Machinery. 57 

Standard Railways. 59 



























TABLE OF CONTENTS ix 

CHAPTER YI 

HANDLING OPERATIONS IN THE TYPICAL 

FACTORY 

PAGE 

Receipt of Material.62 

Three Methods.62 

Water Delivery.64 

Railway Delivery.65 

Store Room and Shop. 66 

Continuous Assembly. 68 

Shipment of Product.69 

CHAPTER VII 

THE PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT 

Commercial Apparatus.70 

Obtaining Bids.71 

CHAPTER VIII 

THE MACHINERY 

Method of Description.73 

Factors in Cost of Handling.74 

Illustrations An Aid in Selection.75 

Determining Capacities of Equipment.77 

Handling Methods.78 

Alternate Handling Mediums.79 

Unusual Application.81 

Simplicity of Mechanism.82 

Continuous Assembly.83 

Fundamentals of the Handling Problems.84 

CHAPTER IX 

STANDARD GAUGE RAILWAYS 

Location and Relation to Plant Buildings. 86 

Elevated Trestles.87 

Car Hauls 87 























X 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Car Hauls for Level Work and Slight Inclines ... 88 

Car Hauls on Steep Inclines.88 

Car Hauls for Short and Slight Grades.89 

Capstans.89 

Pinch Bars. 91 

Car Tipples.92 

Tipples for Standard Gauge Cars.92 

Mine Tipple.95 

CHAPTER X 

NARROW GAUGE, AUTOMATIC, AND CABLE 

RAILWAYS 

Narrow Gauge Track Systems.96 

Automatic Railways.100 

Cable Railways.102 

Shuttle Cable Railway.104 

Continuous Cable Railways.105 

Selection of Type.107 

Overhead Rope Cable Railways.108 

CHAPTER XI 

INDUSTRIAL LOCOMOTIVES 

Locomotives.109 

Electric Locomotives.110 

Storage Battery Locomotives ..113 

Compressed Air Locomotives.116 

Explosion Engine Locomotives.117 

CHAPTER XII 

MOTOR TRUCKS, STORAGE BATTERY TRUCKS 
AND ELECTRIC MOTOR CARS 

Motor Trucks.119 

Industrial Storage Battery Trucks , 125 

























TABLE OF CONTENTS 


xi 


Trailers. 

Trucks with Elevating Platforms . 

General Notes about Trucks. 

* Storage Battery Truck with Electric Crane . 
Electric Motor Cars .... 


PAGE 

129 

131 

131 

135 

135 


CHAPTER XIII 

HAND TRUCKS 

Two-Wheel Trucks.139 

Multiple-Wheel Trucks.140 

Transveyors: Hand Trucks with Lifting Platforms . . 142 

Loads for Transveyors.145 


CHAPTER XIV 

CRANES 

Selection of Type to Meet Requirements.149 

Operating Costs Not the Deciding Factor.150 

Hand Operated Cranes.. . 150 

Portable Shop Cranes, Hand Operated.151 

Travelling Hand Cranes.154 

Travelling Cranes, Hand Operated.154 

Travelling Cranes, Power Operated.158 

Speeds and Capacities.159 

Crane Clearances.161 

Bridge Cranes.162 

Rotary Cranes. 173 

Pillar Cranes.175 

Jib Cranes.177 

Whip Hoists.179 

Locomotive Cranes.180 

Construction Features.188 

Capacities.193 

Tub Rig Elevators. 196 
























xii 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Mast-and-Gaff Rigs.202 

Steeple Tower or Boston Tower.206 

CHAPTER XV 

OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 

Overhead Trolleys.211 

Hand-Moved Trolleys.211 

Power Trolleys.212 

Hoisting Capacities of Telphers.219 

Cableways.224 

CHAPTER XVI 

CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 

Conveyors Defined.228 

Belt Conveyors.229 

Uses and Advantages.229 

Speeds and Capacities.231 

Construction of Belts.233 

Discharging from Belt Conveyors.236 

Reasons of Belt Failure.237 

Methods of Loading.;>.238 

Planning a Belt Conveyor Installation.240 

A Specific Problem Illustrated.241 

Selecting the Belt.242 

Power Required to Operate Conveyors.245 

Number of Plies in Conveyor Belting.247 

Bearings for Belt Conveyors.249 

Conveyor Chain.251 

Gravity Bucket Conveyors.253 

Construction of Buckets.253 

Types of Bucket Conveyors.255 

Filling the Buckets.257 

Driving Mechanisms.259 

Durability and Utility ..259 



















TABLE OF CONTENTS xiii 

PAGE 

Advantages of Gravity Buckets.261 

Dumping the Buckets.263 

Endless Trough Conveyors.265 

Buckets on Belts.265 

Elevator Buckets.265 

Conveyors that Push Their Loads.269 

Screw Conveyors.270 

Construction of Screws.272 

Trough Conveyors.276 

Slack in Conveyors.279 

Ramps.279 

Movable Platforms.281 

Package Elevators.283 

General Uses of Carrier Conveyors.285 

For Elevating Long Articles.285 

Gravity Roller Conveyors.287 

Economy of Operation.289 

Construction.291 

Power Roller Conveyor.293 

Gravity Spiral Roller Chutes.294 

Plain Chutes.294 

CHAPTER XVII 

MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 

Hulett Unloader.296 

Steam Shovels.297 

Drag Line Rigs.302 

Reloaders.302 

Platform Elevators.308 

Tiering Machines.• • • 312 

Skip Hoists. ••’•••• 313 






























xiv 


TABLE OF CONTENTS 


CHAPTER XVIII 

AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 

PAGE 

Lifting Magnets.316 

Air Hoists.323 

Chain, Hoists, Hand Operated.333 

Electric Hoists. 340 

Rope for Hoists.342 

Chains for Hoisting.345 

Hoisting Blocks and Sheaves.346 

Hand Winches.347 

Wheelbarrows.347 

Coal or Ore Tubs.348 

Grab Buckets, Clam-Shell Type.352 

Grab Buckets, Orange-Peel Type.358 

Grab Bucket Closed by Electric Motor. 359 

CHAPTER XIX 

VALVES AND CHUTES 

Valves. . 

Slide Valves.. 

Cut-Off Valves.. 

Angle Valves.. 

Skip Valves. ggg 

Locomotive Coaling Valve.. 

Measuring Chutes.. 

Weighing Hoppers. 377 

Ash Pit Valves. 373 

“S” Valves.373 

Gravity Spouts and Chutes.377 

























TABLE OF CONTENTS 


xv 


CHAPTER XX 

MECHANISMS FOR HANDLING BULK 

MATERIAL 

PAGE 

Economical Considerations.378 

Unloading from Vessels.378 

Grab Buckets.379 

Mast-and-Gaff Rig.379 

Tub-Rig Elevators.379 

High-Speed Hoisting Rigs.380 

Hulett Unloader . 381 

Unloading from Railway Cars.381 

Transporting Bulk Material.383 

Filling Storage Piles.384 

Reclaiming Bulk from Storage.385 

Mechanisms.386 

Pneumatic Systems.387 

Unloading Vessels.387 

Moving Bulk Material Horizontally or up Slight Inclines 388 

Reclaiming Material from Storage.389 

Unloading Standard-Gauge Cars. 390 

Handling Bulk Material from Vehicles.392 

Boiler Room: Handling Coal and Ashes.392 

Mechanisms for Handling Unit or Package Material . . 393 























HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

CHAPTER I 

THE HANDLING PROBLEM 

Foreword. —One of the momentous truths that is 
forced upon thinking people as one of the results of 
the great world war is that of the need of thrift— 
individual, corporate, state, national and international 
thrift. To countries replete in natural resources, to 
people prodigal in habit, both in their personal, 
industrial and national expenses—the need of thrift 
takes on a new value—it will be one of the guiding 
lights of progress. 

Supremacy in manufacturing, and maintaining this 
place in the future, will require the use of the virtue 
of thrift, for by its exercise we can compete, and 
I believe, compete successfully, with our national 
rivals in industry, notwithstanding the higher home 
life and comforts of our people and their consequent 
cost reflected in the higher rate paid to labor in the 
manufacture of our products. 

A tremendous amount of the world’s assets—the 
assets of years of accumulation of natural resources, 
executive ability, capital, and labor,—the stored up 
work of decades—have been burned, blown up, sunk 
and destroyed beyond all hope of return. There is 



2 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


also the great loss due to diverting the efforts of 
millions of men for four years, from creation to 
destruction as well as the loss due to the terrible 
toll of death and maiming—a toll so great that it 
staggers the imagination. These lost assets, as far 
as the financial side can do so, must be replaced by 
hard work and by saving,—by thrift. We must all 
think and practice thrift until these assets be re¬ 
placed. 

We can maintain a higher level of life by saving 
the wasted effort of labor in handling material; and 
to that extent the practice of thrift in handling 
material in factories will be one of the important 
factors in our industrial progress in the maintenance 
of our prosperity and of our well being. 

Historical Developments.—Those who have made a 
life study of the handling of materials and view the 
progress that has been attained since 1870 , cannot 
fail to be impressed by the wonderful advance that 
has been accomplished. Each improvement in method 
of material, in the fabrication of structures, or in 
the development of mechanical power devices, has in 
this short time become an accepted toll and has been 
woven into both warp and woof of the industrial 
texture. 

The knowledge and skill secured in steel making 
and in fabricating trusses have made the use of large 
bridge cranes not only possible, but have accom¬ 
plished it so cheaply that they have become the 
common and accepted method where large quantities 
of material are to be handled. Not alone has this 


THE HANDLING PROBLEM 


3 


taken place, but the use of electricity has so simpli¬ 
fied the power mechanism by which they are operated, 
that it is the accepted method of the world over 
for moving and operating these devices. In smaller 
devices one is impressed by the change of method 
from shoveling by hand into wheelbarrows or buckets 
to the use of grab buckets, and by the change from 
the hand drawn and the horse drawn vehicle to the 
use of the power trucks—made possible by the use 
of the storage battery, the gas engine, and by the 
rubber tires. 

Conveyors, from the early Egyptian pump—a rope 
with gourds attached running over a wheel,—have 
developed by the use of new material and power 
devices through various stages into the quiet running, 
almost automatic, gravity bucket conveyor or skip 
hoist. “Cash” girls at the stores have been replaced 
by the fast running cord conveyors bearing the 
message. One thinks not only of the various changes 
in the devolopment of devices themselves but of 
their application to industry, and is startled by the 
far reaching industrial and economic changes in 
which their use has contributed so great an element 
of success. 

Our present study is the handling of material sav¬ 
ings in the ordinary factory, but it will be interesting 
and helpful to bring to mind other places where the 
economic handling of material has been a large fac¬ 
tor in our industrial success. In the mining of iron 
ore, the steam shovels at the mines, the large special 
drop-bottom railroad cars, the loading wharves, the 


4 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


special Great Lake freighter, the unloading bridges, 
have made the freight rate on the Great Lakes the 
lowest of any in the world for comparable work, 
and have secured this result in spite of our higher 
labor charges and the three months tie-up of the 
equipment in the winter. In the steel works them¬ 
selves, the skip hoists, conveyors, industrial railways 
and power devices have been important in securing 
for the United States the supremacy in the steel 
industrv of the world. 

In the common every-day electric light, there is 
similar advancement. The present efficient power 
house and the low cost of current could not have 
been secured without the modern methods of handling 
the coal and the ashes. The enormous amount of 
coal burned and on hand in the storage piles makes 
coal and ash handling machinery as necessary as the 
boilers themselves. In fact it would be impossible 
to generate current cheaply from coal if handling 
methods were so primitive as they were in 1870 . 
Even in the manufacture of machinery, large dyna¬ 
mos, turbines, and other heavy machines could not 
be built nor kept in use without the overhead cranes 
and auxiliary power handling devices to move these 
machines from place to place. 

These conditions bring to the mind the important 
place that handling material occupies in our indus¬ 
trial life. They also show how it affects not only 
business, both national and individual, but how it has 
played its part in bringing within our grasp the 
power to do, and within our means the physical 


THE HANDLING PROBLEM 5 

comforts and efficiencies of the workshop, office and 
the home. 

It seems a cnrions fact that the rapid improvement 
in the methods and in the machines for handling 
material, had a great impetus just after the close 
of the Civil War. A contributary cause may have 
been the necessity of thrift with its higher utiliza¬ 
tion of the powers of man caused by the financial 
loss and the loss of life. At any rate the progress 
between the Civil War and the great World War 
has been stupendous. There exists after this world 
Avar the same necessity for thrift and for the higher 
utilization of the physical efforts of mankind. If 
this be the case, the present economic methods of 
handling material will be greatly extended and new 
methods and inventions will be developed in order 
that this particular branch of industrial activity may 
keep pace with the need of the times. 

A Definition of Economy. —Edmund Burke has 
given an excellent definition of economy. He says, 
“ Economy is a distributive virtue, and consists not 
in savings, but in selection—it demands a discrimi¬ 
nating judgment and a firm sagacious mind. ,, 

This is particularly true in securing economy in 
handling materials, and the greatest economy is 
secured by the selection of the best plan and the most 
suitable means to carry it into practice. 

The Fundamental Principles. —Two principles only 
are involved in governing the economical handling 
of material; they are fundamental in their nature. 
This may seem a strong statement, but it is true, 


6 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


nevertheless; and in handling material, as in all 
other subjects, the fundamental principles are few 
and simple. 

If properly understood and expressed, these prin¬ 
ciples are the axioms, and all subsidiary rules are 
corollaries thereto or extensions thereof. These 
corollaries and extensions may be many and their use 
of great value, but they trace their parentage straight 
back to the primary simple principles. 

These two elementary principles may be stated as 
follows: 


First.—In handling material, perform only the 
handling operations that are absolutely necessary. 

Second,—Perform these operations in the way that 
secures the lowest cost. 

The first is axiomatic. It needs no argument to 
make it clear that unnecessary handling of material 
is not economical. Nor does it need argument to 
prove that it is most economical to use, of the means 
available, the one that secures the lowest cost that 
the environment will permit. 

As an instance of the former: It is not economical 
where lathe work is to be done—say, on an auto¬ 
mobile crank shaft—to bring the forgings from the 
store-room to the lathe room, unload them piece by 
piece to the floor, to be picked up by the lathe hand, 
redeposited by him on the floor, and picked up later 
piece by piece and carted away to the next operation. 

Such an instance may seem to be a glaring one. 
It is, purposely so; for it not only indicates the point 




THE HANDLING PROBLEM 


7 


that I desire to make, but also illustrates a type of 
practice that is all too common. 

To perform the necessary operations by the avail¬ 
able method that secures the lowest cost, while the 
principle is axiomatic in its facts, can be instanced 
by the following illustration: 

A large dredging contract in a harbor in China— 
let us say Hong Kong—was to be let a few years ago. 
As hydraulic dredges are most economical and do 
such work here at the lowest cost, a representative 
of a large dredging company, realizing that there 
were few, if any, large dredges in China, thought 
he could under-bid and secure a valuable contract. 
Off he posts to Hong Kong to bid, and finds that he 
was right—there were no hydraulic dredges to bid 
against him. He has a fine one available; but he 
finds also, to his chagrin, that coolie labor is so cheap 
that a coolie will carry the earth out of the excava¬ 
tion in baskets on his head at so low a cost per yard, 
that it is more economical to drive piles around the 
earth, pump out the water, and carry out the mud by 
coolie labor! 

It is needless to say that the work was done by 
coolie labor, and that it was the most economical 
method under existing conditions. 

This illustration will force on one’s mind the fact 
that the device that is most economical in handling 
material at one place and under one set of conditions 
of labor and other environment, may not be the most 
economical in another place. Bear this fact con¬ 
stantly in mind, for it is of vital importance. 



8 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Conditions Conducive to Labor Savings, —The cost 

or the difficulty of obtaining labor, the rate of return 
required on the money invested, the depreciation, 
upkeep, obsolescence, are all items that must be 
weighed carefully in selecting the method that will 
do the necessary work with the least cost. 

These considerations make Burke’s definition of 
great value to us, “Economy is a distributive virtue; 
it consists not in saving, but in selection- 

In the handling of material the problem is always 
one of selection. First, selecting the movements that 
are absolutely necessary from those that are not. Sec¬ 
ond, selecting the various methods of performing this 
work in a satisfactory way. Third, selecting the one 
way of the various methods that will do the work for 
the least cost in a given environment. To do this 
thoroughly and wisely requires “a firm, sagacious 
mind . 9 9 

Simplicity. —The success of a factory manager in 
securing economy in handling materials depends not 
only upon the selection of the suitable plans and 
apparatus, but also upon the opportunity his particu¬ 
lar industry affords, and upon his own mental atti¬ 
tude toward the subject. 

Frequently ingenious methods are employed to 
handle material, and the operation itself is eco¬ 
nomical when a modification of the layout or a 
change in the details of the manufacturing operation 
will avoid the necessity of this handling. 

Therefore, the first thoughts on a problem of 
handling material should be devoted to a practical 



THE HANDLING PROBLEM 


9 


means of avoiding the operation altogether; or, where 
this is impracticable, to reducing the physical effort 
required to perform the operation. 

To be able to consider this feature, a definite 
picture must be formed in the mind defining the 
exact purpose to be accomplished in a process of 
moving the article from the previous operation to the 
next one, by the most direct route and with the least 
physical effort. A very definite idea must be formed 
of the amount, either by weight, by number of 
articles, or by bulk, to be moved per unit of time. 

There is one rule that applies to all handling prob¬ 
lems, and one that always can be depended upon to 
aid the mind in selecting a good, workable plan. It 
is general in its terms, but it is nevertheless of great 
value, and all plans can be tested by applying its 
principles. This rule can be stated as follows: 

The material should follow a direct route from re¬ 
ceipt to final shipment with as few retrograde move¬ 
ments as possible , and the articles manufactured should 
go directly from operation to operation without re¬ 
handling. 

The thoughtful reader will at once see the relation 
of this rule to the first principle outlined, and will, 
as he studies the following chapters, be constantly 
impressed with the fact that all the suggestions for 
securing economy have their sources in the two 
axioms. To fix these two axioms permanently in our 
minds, let us read them again. They are: 

First: In handling material, perform only the handling 
operations that are absolutely necessary. 


10 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Second: Perform these operations in the way that secures 
the lowest cost. 

Confusing Elements. —When one first considers the 
problem of handling material from the receiving plat¬ 
form to storage, throughout the processes of manufac¬ 
ture to the shipping platform, and thinks about the 
multiplicity of articles, the work done upon them, 
the movement from machine to machine, and their 
ultimate assembly into the finished product, the mat¬ 
ter seems to be very complicated. 

Further investigation shows that this confusion is 
due in part to considering many things at once, and 
that the actually necessary movements of material 
can be separated into definite transfers, and the great 
mass of movements can be reduced to simple indi¬ 
vidual operations. The first thing to do is to divide 
these transfers into their simple units, and to study 
those which offer possibilities of profit. 

Except in very large establishments producing a 
standard product without many sizes, confusion will 
again present itself in these simple transfers; but the 
problem can usually be solved satisfactorily on the 
theory that the confusion occurs on account of the 
variants introduced by a minority of the articles 
moved. 

It will frequently be found that the work may thus 
be divided and a solution found by temporarily ex¬ 
cluding this minority and dealing with the majority. 
Having solved a problem for the majority, it is not 
unusual for the minority to be handled in a satis¬ 
factory way by slight modifications or additions. 


THE HANDLING PROBLEM 


11 


The apparent confusion is usually not so much one 
of the actual complexity of the physical work itself, 
as it is one resulting from the mental attitude of the 
designer. When this mental confusion is removed, 
the problem can be seen in its actual requirements, 
and then, but not until then, can it be solved satisfac¬ 
torily in a practical way. 

Avoiding Superficial Solutions. —The solving of 
handling problems is secured not only by the use of 
mechanical devices, but also by the attitude of mind 
of the designer. A proper mental attitude toward 
the work is a prerequisite to success. If the man¬ 
ager be convinced that the problem is worth solving 
from the manufacturing standpoint, and thoroughly 
believes that simplicity of mechanism and method are 
not only essential, but are the direct evidence of a 
wise solution, he will reject the various plans contem¬ 
plated and refuse to consider his work accomplished 
until he has an absolutely simple plan with which to 
do the work. 

After he has definitely sized up in his mind the 
necessity .of improvement, the bulk, weight, and rate 
of the operation, the necessity of eliminating the 
operation where possible and decreasing the physi¬ 
cal effort, he will be in a position to start the work. 
With these elements in mind, the next thing to do 
is to consider the various methods by which the re¬ 
sult can be accomplished. 

Usually the first plans are complicated—probably 
inadequate—and the danger lies in being satisfied 
with these early plans. This danger can be avoided 



12 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


by refusing to accept one’s own plan as satisfactory 
until it is without doubt simple, practical, and eco¬ 
nomical. 

This method of giving at first free rein to the 
imagination, and then of exercising a rigid exclusion 
of its results by the simplicity test, will result in a 
series of plans being made and thorough considera¬ 
tion being given to the problem. This thoroughness 
will almost invariably result in a simple, workable 
scheme. As one solves more and more problems of 
this nature, he will find that he will more rapidly 
exclude the intricate solutions and concentrate on a 
choice of simple ones. 

It is stated that Thomas A. Edison, when asked to 
what he attributes his success, replied that one of 
the factors was that “he knew so many things that 
would not work.” 

One other great danger to be avoided is that of 
falling in love with one’s own solution. This mental 
attitude is not unusual, but it is fatal to successful 
work. One must learn to let the imaginative faculty 
play freely, even at the expense of a seeming absurd¬ 
ity, for the reason that a plan which may in the 
aggregate be absolutely impractical or unprofitable 
frequently contains an elemental idea which can be 
worked into simple, practical form. By holding in 
reserve the critical judgment to exclude the plan as a 
whole and to accept this good idea, a practical method 
will then be worked out and the desired result be 
secured. Therefore, avoid as you would the plague, 
hampering your imagination or “falling in love” 


THE HANDLING PROBLEM 


13 


with your own scheme. Analyze carefully and ex¬ 
clude rigidly on the test of simplicity. 

Choice of Methods. —For any operation several 
methods of performance will be found. Usually one 
will be better for certain reasons, and less desirable 
for certain other reasons. At this point the mind 
must consider other things than the operation itself, 
such as its relation to previous and subsequent opera¬ 
tions and its suitability to the future requirements of 
the work, its period of usefulness, and so on, and the 
financial return on the investment. 

The tendency of the age is toward conservation of 
the natural resources of the world, and, in handling of 
materials, to the conservation of labor effort. 

Where labor is scarce, high-priced, or vagrant, the 
necessity of apparatus is increased, and sometimes de¬ 
cides that machinery is a necessity where, if labor 
could be secured, the operation would be performed 
by hand more cheaply than by the plan adopted. 

Frequently it will be found, in the handling of ma¬ 
terial, that the advantage of reducing the physical 
effort is not only an economic advantage in that it 
directly reduces costs, but also an indirect saving in 
that it reduces the number of men needed and brings 
their work within the physical powers for wholesome 
effort. A man may lift a hundred pounds, but he 
cannot do it all day. Work must be interesting 
before men will continue to do it well. 

A few years, as the life of handling machinery and 
equipment goes, may see a revolution in the design, 
machinery operations, and the quantity produced. 


14 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


The change from reciprocating engines to turbines, 
the changes wrought by high-speed steel, and the 
increased production of automobiles, are well-known 
incidents. These possibilities must be borne in mind: 
The plan selected may prove longer-lived than the 
probable life of the operation at hand. 

The world is seeing the 6 4 science’’ of medicine re¬ 
placing the “art” of medicine through the growing 
application of preventive measures in securing health, 
as against the curing of diseased individuals, al¬ 
though the former can never obviate the necessity 
of the latter. 

So, in securing handling economies, the wise will 
use preventive measures: namely, avoid the necessity 
of handling operations wherever possible, and solve 
the individual cases, thus reduced in number, by the 
means that will reduce the labor effort and save 
money in the operating costs. 

The way to “handle” material cheaply is to avoid 
handling it. 


CHAPTER II 


THE SOLUTION OF THE HANDLING PROBLEM 

Economy in Handling. —Securing economy in hand¬ 
ling material is most important at this critical time 
in the manufacturing world. The quantity of mate¬ 
rial handled in a modern factory is enormous; the 
many transfers of stock in process, the receipt, stor¬ 
age, transfer, and shipping of the product, as well as 
the handling of supplies, such as coal, lumber, and so 
on, are numerous and constant. The area that must 
be served is great, the distances long, and the mate¬ 
rial must be delivered on various floor levels. This 
is particularly true in plants that have grown from 
small beginnings and with a layout different from 
that which the production engineers would design 
today. Particularly important is the economic utili¬ 
zation of storage and manufacturing areas, and also 
the steadily increasing cost and diminishing supply 
of labor. 

The great size of manufacturing industries and the 
enormous quantities of material now made in factories, 
entailing the shipment of raw product by various 
routes from all quarters of the earth to be machined 
and combined into an article of commerce at one 
plant, could not have arisen were it not for the co¬ 
incident growth not only of sea and land transport¬ 
ing facilities, but also of suitable improvements in 

15 


16 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


handling methods at the receiving yard and through¬ 
out the manufacturing plant itself. It is only com¬ 
paratively few years since there were no grab buck¬ 
ets, electric cranes, electric trucks, or power vehicles 
of any kind in general use. 

If one wishes to appreciate how the economic 
handling of material can effect the economy of a 
large manufacturing plant, and how the problems of 
handling are interwoven with those of production, 
let him consider how the plant could operate if it 
were necessary to revert to primitive methods, and 
if it became necessary to get’along without coal- and 
ash-handling machinery in the power house, or with¬ 
out electric overhead cranes at shipping platforms, 
in machine shop, or in the foundry. 

Suitable handling apparatus in a manufactory is 
just as necessary as elevators in a tall office build¬ 
ing—without them a factory is handicapped in the 
same manner as business would be without telephone, 
telegraph, or stenography. 

Economic handling of material in large quantities 
goes hand-in-hand with efficient production. The 
greatest economy of production cannot be reached 
unless there is suitable provision for the handling 
operations. 

As this industrial age progresses and more of the 
old needs are met and new devices are developed, a 
constantly increasing need of new applications of 
handling methods will be required. It is not at all 
impossible that the next decade will see a greater 
progress in this matter than has the last. 


SOLUTION OF HANDLING PROBLEM 


17 


It must always be remembered that devices for 
moving raw material or stock in process must be sub¬ 
servient to the general organization, and any method 
employed must be considered as an auxiliary thereto. 
In other words, the new methods must be a link in 
the chain of operations and must be an integral part 
of the whole scheme of production. 

Cost Reduction. —Unnecessarily high costs of hand¬ 
ling are frequently due to a failure to recognize the 
aggregate amount of, and to secure the savings that 
can be made from, the many relatively small econo¬ 
mies possible in the handling of the material in the 
numerous transfers that make up the total cost. It 
frequently happens, when a start is made to reduce 
handling costs in one instance, that the change will 
affect the previous and the following operations and 
that the saving which is sought carries with it 
further improvements not expected, that will increase 
economy and expedite production. 

It is the purpose of this book to point out the 
methods that can be used to reduce the cost of 
handling materials in a manufacturing establishment, 
to indicate the symptoms that point to possibilities 
of savings, to provide a quick, approximate method 
of selecting problems that are worthy of careful 
study, to outline methods of gathering the facts nec¬ 
essary to form w T ise judgments, to provide a thor¬ 
ough method of analysis applicable to any line of 
business by means of which the relative economies of 
the plans may be compared, to outline a basis for a 
wise decision based on these and general manufactur- 


18 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


ing conditions, and to give a brief outline of the various 
commercial apparatus that can be used to secure the 
economic results, together with a description of their 
uses and limitations. In other words, to give a man¬ 
ager the information that will permit him to make 
wise selections in apparatus to secure economy in 
handling materials in his works. 

The analysis of any problem is but the application 
of fundamental principles to any situation, whether 
in a small factory, or in a group of extensive manu¬ 
facturing units. Hence, before taking up these sub¬ 
jects in detail, it is well to make a general survey of 
the situation. 

The Time Factor. —Modern manufacturing opera¬ 
tions fluctuate in quantity of product and in char¬ 
acter. The state of the art is constantly changing, 
sometimes with startling rapidity, as, for instance, in 
the case of the automobile and rubber tire industries, 
which are passing through the formative processes. 
Therefore any plan for the economic handling of ma¬ 
terials must consider the probable and the possible 
changes in requirements, and must provide means for 
extension or for modification. 

Some things are fairly fixed in character—such as 
the making of steam. No manufacturer foresees the 
elimination of coal as a raw material; and the appa¬ 
ratus required to receive, store, and burn the coal, 
and to remove the ash can be considered as perma- 
ment integral parts in the life of the power plant. 
The use of fuel oil and the purchase of electric 
power, however, may in some cases modify condi- 


SOLUTION OF HANDLING PROBLEM 


19 


tions. Other problems—such as were war orders for 
munitions—are temporary in character, and must 
be so considered. The apparatus must be written 
off in so far as possible during the period of war 
production. 

Many factories that grew from small beginnings 
have become handlers of large quantites of materials, 
and the primitive methods have been automatically 
increased in these cases. Here economies can fre¬ 
quently be secured by the use of apparatus. The 
manager’s thought and time have been taken up by 
the problems of organization, price of output, labor 
matters, and so on, and he has had no time for con¬ 
centrating continuous thought on handling methods. 
They have been passed by—not that they were un¬ 
important, but because other matters were more 
pressing. 

Mental Decision. —The real problem is not how to 
handle and move certain products, but how to decide 
what are the necessary movements. The method of 
accomplishing the result is secondary, and is readily 
solved when the real needs are thoroughly deter¬ 
mined. 

Start all new work right. In all new work get 
your plans made for manufacturing and handling 
your product through the factory in the most eco¬ 
nomical manner; then build your structures to suit 
these needs. Don’t build your factories and then 
plan your methods of handling and locate your manu¬ 
facturing departments. 

If you do the latter you are apt to be in the un- 


20 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


comfortable position of the man who complained to a 
merchant that the ready-made suit of clothes sold to 
his son was too small for the boy, and who received 
the reply, “It is not the suit that is too small; it is 
the boy who is too large.” If you plan your factory 
first, and your manufacturing departments and 
handling methods afterward, you are exceedingly 
lucky if you get a “fit.” 

What mental attitude, then, is necessary before 
economies in handling material may be secured? 

1. An ability to pick out the places where economy 
can be obtained. 

2. An ablity to make a mind picture of the needs 
of the situation, the volume, bulk, and weight of the 
material to be moved, and the speed of operation. 

3. Imagination which may be applied to the various 
methods available to do this work, and an ability to 
visualize the proposed apparatus as it will be in¬ 
stalled and used. 

4. A careful analysis of the preferable methods. 

5. An ability to analyze the financial return of the 
plan selected. 

6. A judicial attitude in deciding upon the general 
wisdom of the plan as affecting the whole operation. 

One thing that frequently prevents the securing 
of economies is a lack of initiative in taking up mat¬ 
ters. It needs no argument to prove that unless 
one makes a start nothing will be accomplished. 
Starting to work on a problem is the most important 
requirement. I once read a verse that expresses this 
thought which I wish to impress on the reader: 


21 


SOLUTION OF HANDLING PROBLEM 

Are you in earnest? Seize this very minute! 

What you can do or dream you can, begin it. 

Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. 

Only engage, and then the mind grows heated; 

Begin, and then the work will be completed. 

Simplicity of apparatus is essential. Simplicity of 
plan, as well as simplicity in the construction of the 
machinery that is to do certain work, is one of the 
most important things to be secured. It must always 
be remembered that the more complicated a plan, the 
greater become the attention and skill required + o 
operate and keep it in daily use. Frequently in¬ 
genious plans are worked out that call for intricate 
mechanisms, when simple arrangements would do the 
work much more cheaply. 

Increased Productivity. —In like manner, the com¬ 
plicated mechanism that does everything has given 
way to the simple machine that will do one class of 
work exceedingly well. This change is due largely to 
the increased production of the articles manufac¬ 
tured, and to the fact that the present cost of labor, 
the expense of the machines, floor space, and so on, 
make the simple machine cheaper. The wonderful 
invention that 4 4 winds the clock, starts the fire, rocks 
the cradle, and spanks the children ” has not met 
with universal appreciation—that work is still the 
function of the 4 4 hand that rules the world.’ ’ 

One difficulty often lies in thinking that the opera¬ 
tion as performed is done in the best way because 
of its past usefulness. This attitude is frequently a 
stumbling block in the way of progress, for it inhibits 



22 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


careful thought. The same is true of the idea that a 
new way is necessarily better than an old way. The 
two attitudes are the Scylla and Charybdis of the 
handling problem, requiring that a course be steered 
between two alternatives. The old way was probably 
good because of certain fundamental conditions that 
may or may not hold today. If good, these condi¬ 
tions must be maintained or improved; but as they 
are frequently of a character that need not determine 
the type of apparatus used, important economies are 
possible. 

Andrew Carnegie is quoted as saying, “I let the 
‘slow coaches’ use the old machine—mine I chucked 
into the scrap heap quick.” 

A noted historian has taken the view that most 
reforms or advances in methods are the result of 
economic necessities. Whether this be true or not, 
the time is certainly ripe for conserving every par¬ 
ticle of human effort in the labor world and for 
directing it to be effective rather than to obtain only 
ordinary results. 

Continuous Production. —Modern practice in manu¬ 
facturing is rapidly applying the principle of con¬ 
tinuous production, as in the assembly of chassis of 
automobiles. It is no longer thought necessary that 
all the lathe work be done in one section, but it is 
found more economical to put a few lathes in a series 
with their preceding and subsequent operations, thus 
securing continuity of operation and reducing hand¬ 
ling labor. 

“It is a far cry to Lucknow,” but this considera- 



SOLUTION OF HANDLING PROBLEM 


23 


tion of the growing application of the principles of 
continuous manufacture and assembly carries me 
back to the first instance of the sort that I remember 
seeing—that of the slaughtering of pigs in the yards 
of a large packing house in Chicago. The live pigs 
were suspended by an overhead trolley on a track, 
on which they were carried by gravity past the 
butchers. Each butcher had a specific duty: one 
stuck the pig, another removed the bristles, another 
removed the entrails—and so on, and all the while 
the line of pigs was passing these working positions. 
The raw material was live squealing pigs at one end, 
and the finished product—pork—was ready for the 
retailer at the other. 

In principle this is not different from the continu¬ 
ous assembly of the chassis of automobiles, in which 
case the separate parts are added as the growing 
chassis passes the individual workman, and the 
chassis is complete when it reaches the end of the 
conveyor line. There is one difference, however; the 
pig squeals before the process, the automobile after¬ 
wards. 

The object of making this comparison now and in 
this way is to emphasize the fact on the reader’s mind 
that the method of continuous production is ap¬ 
plicable to many situations, and frequently offers the 
means of making great savings. On the other hand, 
to break packages is a very expensive way of hand¬ 
ling material. The articles should be kept together, 
should go from machine to machine without being 
put on the floor to be picked up, and should be so 


24 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


arranged that every time they are moved they will 
go to the next point of operation. 

Remember that skilled workmen as skilled workers 
receive high wages, and that when they are hand¬ 
ling material they are not doing skilled work. For 
this reason their machines may be turning out a re¬ 
duced quantity or quality of product. 

Closely connected with the economy of handling 
is the supply of articles to be machined directly 
ahead and within convenient reach of the machine 
operator. The savings by increased production due 
to this cause alone frequently justify the application 
of handling apparatus needed to produce the results. 
It is a comfortable feeling for an employee to know 
there is plenty of work ahead of him, and whether 
he is paid by the day or by contract the tendency 
is to speed up. 

Purchased versus Home-Made Equipment. —It must 
be constantly borne in mind that manufacturing 
plants are built and operated to produce their own 
products. They are not jobbing shops to do engi¬ 
neering work and conduct experiments in handling 
apparatus. Therefore, purchase your apparatus; 
don’t make it. To make it takes time and machines 
that should be devoted to the manufacture of your 
product. Of course, there are cases in which novel 
apparatus is required which cannot be purchased, but 
they are comparatively few. And the greatest care 
should be exercised when deciding this point, as it 
will frequently be found that the special device is 
dictated by a misapprehension of the actual needs, or 


SOLUTION OF HANDLING PROBLEM 


25 


a lack of application of standard devices that can be 
used with slight modification. The purchase of stand¬ 
ard commercial apparatus insures quick replace¬ 
ments, and frees the manager of a vast amount of 
detail which diverts his efforts from the manufactur¬ 
ing side of his business. 

One very important thing is to exclude the de¬ 
tailed consideration of handling problems, the solu¬ 
tion of which will not be profitable. It is manifestly 
more efficient to devote one’s thought to the prob¬ 
lems of handling where increased production can be 
obtained, or where considerable savings in labor 
charges can be made. A quick way to exclude un¬ 
profitable thought is to consider how production 
could be increased if material were more convenient 
to the operators. Would a change justify the ex¬ 
penditure for the apparatus required? Such a deci¬ 
sion can be reached quickly. 

Another approximate method of exclusion will 
come in answering the question, Can we save one 
workman’s time by the expenditure of $5000 for 
apparatus? When a rough approximation indicates 
that either of these results can be secured, the prob¬ 
lem is worth considering and analyzing. It is also 
worth considering when the difficulty of securing 
labor will be relieved by the use of apparatus, even 
if the costs of operation be approximately the same. 

A Real Handling Problem. —When you get down 
to work on a real handling problem—and by a real 
one I mean one which, if solved, will be of great 
value to your company—you will sometimes find that 


26 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


you are “up against it hard” and that there seems 
to be no way in which to accomplish the work. 

Now, you are facing a man-sized job and there are 
but two possibilities—failure to secure the results, or 
success. This is the crucial point in this particular 
job. What are you going to do? Succeed in finding 
the solution, of course—but how? You have been 
over the job—up, down, across—have sought to use 
all the devices that seem applicable, and none appeal 
to you as practicable in this case. You go over it 
again, see no new combinations, no new facts, and 
land just where you did before. A stalemate, you 
are inclined to think. 

Optimism and Perseverance Essential. —If the sav¬ 
ings you are after are important, do not take this 
view for it hinders original thought. Assume with 
certainty that the problem can be solved, and give 
yourself a mental jolt. 

Remember what Speaker Cannon said about secur¬ 
ing long life, “Laugh and laugh, and keep on a-keep- 
ing on.” Think of how the Wright boys kept on 
“a-keeping on” until they flew. Think of Morse and 
the telegraph, of Bell and the telephone, of Edison 
and his marvelous intuitive ingenuity and perser- 
verance. Think of any of the many similar cases, 
and clear the cobwebs out of your brain. Think of 
the impossibilities of a few years ago that are the 
realities of today—for example, the flying machine, 
the impossible dream, now the servant of humanity. 
Remember that Professor Langley’s flying machine 
did not fly, not because Professor Langley had not 



SOLUTION OP HANDLING PROBLEM 


27 


designed the fundamental flying units properly, but 
because of an inadequate engine, and that after the 
inventor’s death the machine was perfected and did 

fly. 

Pleasure in the Task. —Your plan may be all right 
except for some wrong detail, which can be corrected. 
While the result you wish to reach is important and 
worthy of serious consideration, get some enjoyment 
out of the steps you take to reach it. Material to be 
handled is usually dry—your problem need not be, 
and solving handling problems can be made so inter¬ 
esting that the labor becomes a pleasure and the task 
therefore will be all the more easily accomplished. 

Put some fun into your work. Laugh at what 
appears to be the inadequacy of your plan and at 
its apparent shortcomings; exaggerate them and 
make them seem absurd. Refresh your brain by 
thinking of something entirely different—say, the 
day you first climbed above the timber line on “that 
mountain trip.” Or think of the shady trout stream 
and the big fellow who struck but whom you did 
not catch. He was there just the same—and so is 
the solution of your problem. 

Such thoughts as these will break the mental 
strictures and lift you out of the rut—no matter what 
the problem that confronts you. 

Two Heads Better than One. —Talk about your 
problem with the best man who will really be inter¬ 
ested; explaining it to him will make you understand 
it better, and, while you explain, new ideas may 
develop. If your listener be better informed than 



28 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


you, he may set you right at once. If not, two heads 
are better than one, and if he know less about the 
problem than you, and has no helpful imagination, 
either his attitude is likely to be that of Lord Dun¬ 
dreary—“It’s one of those things no fellow can find 
out”—or else you will appear to him all the kinds 
of fool his vocabulary describes. In any case you 
will have gained a new start—whether your advisor 
helped you with a suggestion, or you together evolved 
a new point of view or developed a- previously un¬ 
thought of method, or your opposition was aroused 
by criticism. In any event, you will have secured a 
new datum line for work. 

Planning, a “Human” Job. —Don’t forget that 
planning a handling method is a “human’s” job. 
You are a man first, and a manager and an engineer 
afterwards. Talk the problem over with some on& 
who believes in you. Don’t tell all the details, but 
just enough to bring out that supreme unquestion¬ 
ing confidence in your ability to succeed. That very 
confidence is one of the strongest psychological im¬ 
pulses that you can call to your aid. 

Leave the problem that confronts you, for a few 
hours (or preferably, days) if the situation per¬ 
mit, and then take it up again. You may find that 
you are still in the fog of uncertainty and still 
puzzled. “Keep on a-keeping on,” and usually there 
will be a rift in the fog banks and through the mists 
will burn the ray of the imaginative idea, which, 
intelligently focused and developed, will shed such a 
flood of light that your problem, with careful work, 


SOLUTION OF HANDLING PROBLEM 


29 


will be solved. Then, when yon have analyzed and 
considered that same problem carefully, you will per¬ 
haps be surprised how any competent person could 
have failed to find the solution at first. 

Program to Follow. —When, in my professional 
work, I am confronted with a problem that is well 
worth solving, I always follow this program: 

1. —Assume that there is a simple economical way 
to do the work. 

2. —Separate the needed work from the unneces¬ 
sary. 

3. —Select the best and simplest plan, never resting 
until one is found that is both simple and practical. 

4. —Analyze the function of the plan that is selected 
with respect to the known future needs, and prede¬ 
termine, as nearly as possible, financial returns from 
the operation of the plan. Then, if this financial 
return appears to be satisfactory and consistent with 
what future development is likely to be, consider 
the matter settled. 

My experience leads me to believe that there are 
few—very few—cases in which this method will not 
produce satisfactory results. Solving handling prob¬ 
lems is brain work. The brain, like any other tool, 
gets dull when it works hard and constantly at the 
same material, and needs to be sharpened. Like 
other tools, it has its keen edge restored by contact 
with some entirely different material. For ordinary 
steel tools, the emery wheel, the hone, and so on, are 


30 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


used. In the case of the brain, the centering of at¬ 
tention upon anything incongruous, laughable, exag¬ 
gerated and the inspiration of the confidence of others 
will restore the tone. 

Inertia of Habit. —But even when you are con¬ 
vinced that you have chosen a good plan for handling 
material, when you have selected the particular devices 
to be installed which will increase economy or expe¬ 
dite production, you have accomplished only part of 
your task; that is, even after the machinery has been 
installed, you have provided only the physical means 
of securing the economy. 

If the savings desired are to be actually obtained, 
the mechanisms must be used wisely, and there must 
be enthusiasm on the part of those who use them. I 
know of cases in which entirely suitable mechanisms 
were installed which did their work well, but which 
failed to secure all the savings possible, because the 
foreman in charge did not fully understand the situa¬ 
tion, and therefore did not make good use of the 
means at hand. In one case lack of judgment was 
responsible for the retaining of an extra man whose 
services were entirely unnecessary. 

The inertia of habit is like that exerted by ponder¬ 
able bodies. As Mr. James Hartness has pointed 
out in his work on the “Human Factor in Works 
Management, ’ ’ this inertia has its advantages as 
well as its disadvantages. It tends to conserve the 
practices both of the past and of the present, but it 
tends also to prevent changes for good, as well as for 
ill, in matters pertaining to handling as well as in 


SOLUTION OF HANDLING PROBLEM 


31 


other things. And yet it is true that any handling 
plan which does not profit by this habit of inertia 
has fallen short of the possibilities of economy which 
might have been made use of. On the other hand, 
many people think in a fixed path, and it requires a 
distinct mental effort even to think of doing work in 
a different way, and a much greater effort to realize 
the advantages of doing so. It frequently puts a 
severe strain on the foreman’s ability and on his 
executive capacity to install a new method in the way 
desired, and to secure the economy sought. 

Fostering the Right Attitude in Operatives. —Re¬ 
member that the plan and the devices to be installed 
are tools for men to use. If it be difficult for the fore¬ 
man to understand and rightly value your ideas, it may 
be much harder for the workman to readjust himself 
to an entirely new set of conditions resulting from 
the installation of a plan distinctly different from 
that to which he has become accustomed. It is there¬ 
fore most important that those who are to have to 
do with the new plan, particularly those who are to 
operate it: 

First: Be interested in the subject and realize why 
you wish it to succeed. 

Second: Understand what you wish to accomplish 
and how it is to be done. 

Third: Be convinced that it will do the work, save 
money, expedite production, and, when actually in 
use, will make conditions easier and better for all 
hands. 

When the foreman has difficulty in absorbing these 


i 


82 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


ideas, it often will be found that the manager’s en¬ 
thusiasm, optimism, and confidence in the foreman, 
will inspire in the latter a desire to accomplish the 
end sought and a conviction that the device is a 
good one, since the “old man” has analyzed it and 
believes in its efficiency. 

If these conditions be secured the desired end is ac¬ 
complished, and if the foreman does not quite get the 
results desired, he will come to the superintendent 
for the necessary assistance. 

Psychology of Leadership. —It is not easy to make 
clear the psychology of wise leadership in such mat¬ 
ters, and how to employ it effectively, but every suc¬ 
cessful manager knows that there is such a psychol¬ 
ogy and that it is essential to make use of it. There¬ 
fore, “Give not the babe to the nurse that cares not 
for it.” Ideas, like babies, are appreciated and cared 
for by those who know them and work for their suc¬ 
cess. So, see that your men know your plans, con¬ 
vince and inspire them that they can be a great help 
in making a success of the apparatus you are to in¬ 
stall, and that the completed plan is a step forward 
for the good of all. With a plan of handling that is 
well worked out, and with this mental attitude per¬ 
meating your staff, you will secure the economy that 
you seek. 


I 


CHAPTER III 
IDEALS IN HANDLING 

Conservation. —All conveying schemes should do 
more than insure the conveying of material from one 
point to another—they must also, for the best results, 
insure the receipt of the material and the delivery of 
it to the machine operators, in order that the latter 
may not be called upon to lift or move that material. 
The function of the machine operators is to do work 
on the material, and their efforts must be conserved 
to that end. 

Conservation is the need of the age. Conservation 
of the labor effort of skilled workmen is a vital neces¬ 
sity in economic production. 

When one considers the short tenure of service of 
the employees of a manufacturing establishment, and 
realizes the frequency with which men are employed 
and leave their jobs, the reduction of the necessary 
labor turnover, both because of the manufacturing 
delays and because of the cost incident to each such 
change, at once becomes evident. 

Thomas Carlyle said many years ago, “Men 
who work with the hands, and those who find work 
for hands to do should feel that the ties that bind 
them together are stronger than temporary days’ 
wages.” It is not so much that labor organizations 
per se are forcing better conditions; it is the real- 

33 


34 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


ization of all men that better conditions result in bet¬ 
ter work and lower cost of production, and that they 
are in line with the industrial evolution of this 
decade. 

Hence the talk of efficiency, indicating the great 
need of improvement. From this and from the 
efforts of manufacturers and practical men, much 
good will result. In this process of evolution the 
wasted effort, not only in handling material but in all 
things else, must ultimately be first reduced and then 
entirely eliminated, wherever the means exist that 
make these steps possible. 

We see the welfare work, the labor employment 
bureaus, and the efforts to make employment condi¬ 
tions more wholesome, permanent and efficient, as an 
evidence of the growing appreciation, among for¬ 
ward-looking manufacturers, of the needs in this re¬ 
spect. 

Requisites in Handling. —Whenever possible, have 
the material go directly from receiving platform to 
the machinery processes. Use the store-room as a 
reservoir; and, while all material for bookkeeping 
records must pass through the store, extend the 
clerical area of the store-room to the receiving plat¬ 
form, in order that the end may be accomplished 
without actually unloading each piece into a bin and 
reloading it for transportation to the machines. 

Endeavor to deliver from the receiving platform 
and store-house to the machines in such a way that 
there will be no need of rehandling at machine opera¬ 
tions. Try to arrange delivery from one machine to 


IDEALS IN HANDLING 


35 


another to avoid breaking packages. Do not unload 
material from trucks and pile it on the floor to be 
picked up by the machine operator, and do not let 
him pile it on the floor to be picked up and again 
loaded into trucks by the man who moves material 
to the next operation. Use boxes, skids, and trans- 
veyors, and use gravity runways or conveyors where 
sufficient work warrants them. 

All plans should be worked out to fit in with, and 
become an integral part of, the future plant. This 
point is frequently lost sight of, and temporizing 
methods are often unwittingly used when a little 
further consideration would result in a plan that 
would serve the present needs fully as well, and prob¬ 
able future requirements much better. 

In one case that came under my observation, a plan 
to provide for the present and future needs of a 
central electric-lighting and gas plant allowed for the 
gradual expenditure, over a term of years, of approx¬ 
imately $150,000 for handling apparatus, of which 
sum all but about $2000 of the money gradually in¬ 
vested in apparatus will do full service in the com¬ 
pleted plant. Several other plans were considered 
which provided for immediate requirements serving 
the present needs, but these were not selected, as 
they would have been of little use in the future. 

It is always wise to bear in mind the future require¬ 
ments in considering large problems of handling ma¬ 
terial for important industries, and to picture the 
way in which the immediate needs may be met while, 
at the same time, the equipment will fit in with, and 


36 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


become a part of, the larger plant. This considera¬ 
tion involves a little more work and thought for the 
future, but the time is well spent. Such forethought 
will frequently prevent the scrapping, in the near 
future, of apparatus that is temporarily economical 
but not the best suited to the growing needs of the 
situation. 

The Practical Questions. —When a manager is con¬ 
vinced of the advantages of securing economy in 
handling material, he will at once be confronted with 
the problem of proving in a practical way his convic¬ 
tion that he can improve results. How to do it be¬ 
comes the issue, and at once these questions arise: 

1. Where can I save in handling? 

2. How much can I reduce the labor costs at these 
points ? 

3. What investment will be remunerative? 

4. What commercial apparatus will best accomplish 
the results in any particular case? 

5. Will these changes pay, and will they be in line 
with future development of the plant? 

There can be no hard and fast rules for work of 
this kind. It requires an intimate knowledge of ap¬ 
paratus available, a careful collecting of the facts of 
operation, and the exercise of good judgment and 
creative imagination, to enable a man to foresee the 
arrangement of apparatus that will effect the desired 
results and, at the same time, fit in with the existing 
and with the future conditions of operation. 

It is the intention of this book to direct the man- 


IDEALS IN HANDLING 


37 


ager’s attention to the facts that he needs to know if 
he is to apply the principles of economic handling 
to his own problems, and to select the commercial 
apparatus that will render him the highest financial 
return. 

General Rules. —For successful results in solving 
the handling problem, one must he convinced of the 
following: 

1. —That economy in moving material is 
secured by not handling it. 

2. —That the best solution is always simple. 

3. —That the best solution is flexible and per¬ 
mits of the work being done by more primitive 
means in times of breakdown or accident. 

4. —That the use of commercial, purchasable 
apparatus is always wise, and it is the unusual 
situation that requires apparatus which is 
peculiar or special in its fundamental operation. 

5. —That no increased economy will be secured 
unless a start be made. 

Indications of Excessive Costs. —Usually expenses 
can be reduced wherever more than one man is em¬ 
ployed in the transfer of material from one point to 
another, and wherever the physical effort is greater 
than one man is capable of performing. Conservation 
here means reduction of the human effort—doing the 
work with a cheaper power, and utilizing the man’s 
intelligence to direct the application of this power to 
his full supervising ability. Expenses can frequently 
be reduced where unsuitable, obsolete devices requir- 


38 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


ing a high upkeep are in use; that is, where the type 
used is not that which would be installed today. 

Needlessly high handling costs are indicated: 

1. Where unnecessary handling is performed. 

2. Where more than one man is moving material 
without labor-saving devices. 

3. Where men are lifting and handling articles 
weighing over 100 pounds. 

4. Where men are loading from floor to trucks, or 
from trucks to floors. 

5. Where machine operators are doing any laborious 
lifting or any work except putting the article 
into the machines, supervising the machinery 
operations, and removing the articles when fin¬ 
ished. To allow lifting and carrying by machine 
operators is to indulge in a most expensive 
luxury. 

6. In the moving of material from container to con¬ 
tainer. 

7. Where men on assembly floors, or elsewhere, are 
looking or waiting for material. 

8. By inadequate store-rooms. 

9. By disorderly store-rooms. 

10. By a lack of well-marked bins or sections in 
store-rooms. 

11. Where there are more than one kind or size of any 
article in a store-room container. 

12. Where material is unnecessarily diverted from 
the receiving platform for clerical records when 
it should go directly to machines. 


IDEALS IN HANDLING 


39 


13. Where there are delays in delivery from store¬ 
room to operators. 

14. By a lack of schedule for delivery, causing de¬ 
lays at machines or necessitating extra delivery 
trips. 

15. By retrograde movement of material in process 
of construction. 

16. By the use of antiquated apparatus or methods 
that are slow or cumbersome. 

The cost of the length of the movement of material 
in factories, like short-haul transportation by rail¬ 
roads, is less expensive in itself than the terminal 
charges. It is the loading, unloading, reloading, lift¬ 
ing, sorting, and so on, that are the expensive items. 
Sometimes these costs seem to be slight when the 
machine operator performs the operations, but 
actually they are usually higher under these circum¬ 
stances, and all handling schemes should be worked 
out to reduce this worse than wasted effort. 

Preliminary Analysis. —The manager who is inter¬ 
ested in securing the most economical methods of 
handling material, will develop an almost instinctive 
feeling that certain operations in the plant are sus¬ 
ceptible of improvement. If he carefully observes 
conditions, bearing in mind the sixteen symptoms 
that have just been outlined, he will have this feel¬ 
ing strengthened or removed, as the symptoms are 
present or absent. 

It is not infrequent that several of the conditions 
may be found to exist in one problem, and while each 


40 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


in itself may not seem serious, the aggregate re¬ 
sultant waste may amount to a large sum in a year’s 
time, which would be well worth saving. A very 
short analysis will determine whether or not the 
proper solution of the problem would secure sufficient 
savings to justify careful study. Roughly, the man¬ 
ager should determine whether labor effort can be 
reduced and fewer men used, or whether those em¬ 
ployed can be partly relieved for other work—and 
also whether the machining or manufacturing opera¬ 
tions will be expedited if these steps be taken. In 
many cases he will find that all of the above desir¬ 
able results can be secured. 

The amount and extent of these savings will deter¬ 
mine how much time the problem deserves, and how 
much capital investment is justified considering the 
equipment that will be required. When the value of 
these savings is roughly determined, the manager will 
have no difficulty in deciding whether or not the mat¬ 
ter should be given further consideration. If it be 
worthy, a thorough analysis must be made of the 
work to be done, and the best means to accomplish it 
must be planned. 

If it be decided that an investigation is to be made, 
two operations are in order: First, a way to do the 
work must be planned. The preliminary processes 
and the selection of a suitable plan to accomplish the 
work have been outlined in principle, which is all 
that can be done in a work of this kind; rigid tests 
for excluding the unsuitable plans have been given 
in the preceding chapters. And second, a careful 


IDEALS IN HANDLING 


41 


analysis must be made of the financial return of the 
best plan worked out, or a comparison of the income 
value of several workable plans must be made. A 
method of making this analysis is given in a later 
chapter. 

Summary.— Certain symptoms indicate the possibil¬ 
ity of effecting savings in handling materials. The 
careful observation of conditions with these symp¬ 
toms in mind, aided by the manager’s instinctive 
feeling that certain operations can be improved, will 
lead to the consideration of the handling problems, 
the solution of which will bring greatest opportunities 
of making savings. 

A rough analysis will determine the wisdom of 
working out a plan and analyzing its probable finan¬ 
cial return. The manager will then think out, or have 
thought out for his consideration, plans that are 
simple and acceptable, provided the financial return 
promises to be satisfactory. A careful analysis of the 
financial returns for the plans selected must then be 
made. 

A method of analyzing the probable financial re¬ 
turns of the plan or plans selected is the subject 
treated in the next chapter. 


CHAPTER IV 


ANALYZING THE FINANCIAL RETURNS 

Importance of Pre-Analysis. —It is my earnest re¬ 
quest that the reader study this chapter with care, 
not as light reading in which information is im¬ 
parted in an attractive form, for I, though I firmly 
’ believe in its value, do not consider it attractive— 
for as Charles Dickens made Mr. Mantelini say, it is 
a “demmed, dry, unpleasant sort of a subject.” 

The method worked out herein gives, in advance 
of detailed estimates and complete plans, a very safe 
conclusion as to the amount that can wisely be in¬ 
vested in a handling scheme in any factory and under 
any conditions. Taking into consideration all the 
variables, it clears the air and permits concentrated 
work in the places where the best results can be 
secured. 

The practical results of the calculations based on 
the formula discussed in this chapter will show: 

1. How large an expense can be afforded to make 
a given saving, which is the most important thing 
to be determined. 

2. How much will be saved if handling mechanism 
be installed. 

3. The importance of providing for depreciation, ob- 

42 



THE FINANCIAL RETURNS 


43 


solescence, upkeep, and so on, in order that the 
mind may be free to estimate the general wisdom 
of the installation without the lurking uncertainty 
and indecision that lack of knowledge of these 
items is sure to cause. 

Applied to any given case, the formula indicates 
with great positiveness how good or how bad the 
plan will be f*om the financial standpoint—the real 
crux of the question in all handling problems. 

Before taking up the formula it may be wise to 
state in advance that there are certain matters which 
can be treated only in a brief way. These are such 
subjects as depreciation, obsolescence, interest on in¬ 
vestment, upkeep, and so on, and they will only be 
touched upon here. The student will find more com¬ 
plete treatises on these topics elsewhere.* In fact, 
as far as the use of the items here is concerned, any 
manager of experience will have approximate per¬ 
centages at hand which will be nearly enough correct 
to use in this case—for the formula is not for solving 
quantities with mathematical exactness, but to enable 
a person to determine the approximate savings and 
to help the mind form a conservative estimate of the 
value and profits of a handling plan if it be installed. 
Furthermore, a plan for handling material that is 
profitable only when it hinges on an exact, correct 
figure for any one item—such as a difference of one 
per cent in depreciation—is probably too near the 


* See “Industrial Cost Finding,” by N. T. Ficker; also “Valuing 
Industrial Properties,” by C. W. McKay; Factory Management Course. 







44 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


dead line of usefulness to select for the investment of 
capital. 

Justifiable Expenditure. —When a simple plan for 
handling materials has been developed, the financial 
returns of the installation will, in the absence of 
labor difficulties, largely determine the wisdom of the 
installation. It may pay to install apparatus and it 
may not, according to several conditions. Among 
these conditions are: (a) the constancy or intermit- 
tency of the work, (b) the character of the operation 
itself, and (c) the results of the analysis which fol¬ 
lows: 

If labor can be saved, or if manufacturing condi¬ 
tions can be improved, by the use of apparatus for 
handling material, we can readily determine how 
much labor will be required by the method proposed. 
By comparing this method with the present method 
we can ascertain the probable labor-saving effected. 

The investment justifiable to effect the saving is 
the item in the investigation that is the most difficult 
of analysis, as it has so many variables. The figures 
obtained by the following method ,are an indication 
of facts, and the ultimate decision must be dictated 
by good judgment and a general consideration of the 
whole situation. 

The variables are many in the work to be per¬ 
formed—the work may be of temporary character, 
infrequently done, the amount fluctuating widely, or 
it may be a regular daily operation year in and year 
out. This item varies from 0 to 100 per cent. 

If the work is of a temporary nature, no saving 



THE FINANCIAL RETURNS 45 

can be made; whereas if it is of daily necessity for 
the future, the whole saving of the reduced labor by 
the plan suggested is available. The true value exists 
somewhere between these two extremes. 

It need not be difficult to assign a value to this 
item after thorough observation and careful consider¬ 
ation. Let us call it X— a per centum. 

The variables in the investment value may be 
classed as follows: 

Interest charges on investment — A per cent. 

Interest to provide for upkeep of apparatus installed — B 
per cent. 

Interest to provide for depreciation due to age — C per 
cent. 

Interest to provide for progress in the art of the particular 
device proposed (subsequent inventions) —D per cent. 

Interest to provide for extension to service — E per cent. 

Additional superintendence and overhead expenses due to 
change in method — H per cent. 

Interest to provide for Taxes — K per cent. 

Cost of power, supplies, and other variable items in dollars 
per year — F. 

These eight items comprise the necessary charges 
that must be considered, and each of them can be ap¬ 
proximately determined by one familiar with the ap¬ 
paratus selected and the operating conditions. While 
in any particular case any of them may vary, the 
total can be determined with approximate accuracy. 

We now have the elements of a test formula which 
determines the amount of profitable investment: 




46 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Let 8 = the yearly saving in labor in dollars, and Z — the 
investment in dollars justified by these considerations, then 

„ _ 8 (X per cent) —F 

Z ~ (A + B + C + D + E + H + K) per cent 


Assume, as a test case, that four men are employed 
day in and day out in moving coal, lumber, cotton, 
or any other material, from one point to another. 
And assume that a commercial apparatus (electric 
truck, narrow-gauge railroad, or conveyor), will do 
all the work of these four men with one operator. 
The assumptions in this discussion are not intended 
to represent any typical instance as to conditions of 
operation or values selected for the variables, but 
merely to make clear the method employed. 

Assume that we pay the men $3 per day each for 
300 days per year: 


Labor reduced $2,700 per year. 

Assume X — 80 per cent. Plant operated one shift, the 
men employed 80 per cent of the year. 

A— 6 per cent. Interest on investment. 

B = 20 per cent. Upkeep. 

C = 15 per cent. Depreciation. 

D = 10 per cent. Anticipating more economical machinery 
for the same purpose in the future. 

E = 3 per cent. Extension to service. 

H — 3 per cent. Additional supervision required. 

K = 3 per cent. Taxes. 

F — $400 cost of power, etc., per year. 

$2,700X^0 per cent — F 


Z- 




(6 -j~ 20 —j- 15 -j- 10 —j - 3 —J— 3 -j - 3) per cent 
$2,160-$400 _ 

60 per cent ~ 





THE FINANCIAL RETURNS 


47 


Our investigation indicates that an apparatus cost¬ 
ing less than $2900 can be installed which will be 
kept in good condition, earn interest on investment, 
and provide reserves for depreciation, obsolescence, 
and so on, and show a saving. Assuming that we 
have planned a good working arrangement of com¬ 
mercial machinery to do the work, we can readily 
estimate the cost of the necessary apparatus. If the 
apparatus (assume it to be an electric-storage-battery 
industrial truck) will cost $1750 (/) to install, the 
yearly expense charge will be: 

IX(A + B + C+D + E + H + K)+F 
or 1750 X 0.60 + 400 = $1,450.00 
then 8 = $2,700.00 — $1,450.00 = $1,250.00 

This is an actual saving of $1250 a year—a return 
of approximately 71 per cent on the investment, over 
and above all interest charges, upkeep, deterioration, 
and obsolescence. 

It follows, from the relation of the equation, that 
provision is made yearly for: 

A = 6 per cent interest on the investment; 

B — 20 per cent for repairs and upkeep; 

C = 15 per cent for depreciation; 

D — 10 per cent for a new and better device that may 
supplant the one prepared; 

E = 3 per cent for minor extensions and equipment; 

II — 3 per cent additional superintendence; 

K— 3 per cent for taxes; 

F — $400 cost of power, etc. 



48 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


The above method, I find, is a simple, workable 
one and tells with reasonable accuracy the savings 
by the methods proposed, the risk of the investment, 
the provisions made for the future; it also shows the 
situation with great clearness. In other words, it is 
comparatively easy to decide whether or not to pro¬ 
ceed with any plan, when one knows the total cost 
of the investment required, and when. The method 
gives a fixed interest on the investment; it provides a 
fixed amount for upkeep, and a fixed amount for ex¬ 
tensions; it provides for the power used; it creates a 
fund that will write off the whole investment in a 
definite number of years, and provides a probable 
saving, over and above the foregoing, of a definite 
percentage on the original investment. 

The algebraic method above described is prefer¬ 
able to that used by some managers, because it can 
be made prior to an estimate of the cost of apparatus, 
and because it tells, with a less detailed investiga¬ 
tion than other methods how much one can afford to 
invest. Although some prefer more of a ledger 
method of comparison, it matters little which of the 
several methods is used, provided that all the items 
are considered and given a fair value. These items, 
as given in the foregoing list—to repeat again, for 
the purpose of emphasis—include interest on the 
investment, a definite percentage for repairs and 
maintenance, a percentage for depreciation, a reserve 
for replacement, a fund for extensions, an amount for 
superintendence, a fund for taxes, and the cost of 
power. 


THE FINANCIAL RETURNS 


49 


It another method of analyzing this same problem 
be taken, the results will show as follows: 


COMPARISON 


Old Way 

4 men employed every 
day handling mate¬ 
rial at $3 per day, 

300 days per year. .$3600 
N o machinery o r 
equipment used, con¬ 
sequently no capital 
or upkeep charges. 


$3600 


Preferred Method 

An electric truck at a cost 
of $1750, and one man to 
do the same work 
1 man at $3 per day, 

300 days per year.. $ 900 
Interest on cost 
of equipment 
at 6% 

Repairs and up¬ 
keep at 20% 

Extensions at 3% 
Additional su- 
perintendance 
at 3% 

Write off charges 
at 10% 

Depreciation at 15% 

Taxes at 3 % 


60% $1050 
Cost of power, etc.... 400 


Yearly cost of opera¬ 
tion .$2350 

Balance saved yearly. 1250 


$3600 

The probable saving, as outlined above, having 
been determined, it is then necessary to find out 
whether or not the proposed changes are in line with 
the future development of the plant, and whether the 








50 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


money can be used to better advantage elsewhere. 
These questions can be considered in detail only 
when the particular needs of the plant are known, 
and then only by the manager or some one else inti¬ 
mately informed of the probable present and future 
requirements of the business. The plan proposed 
must be subservient to the needs of the general organ¬ 
ization. It does not permit of discussion here. 

Factors in the Equation.—Interest. —In the use of 
the foregoing formula, the first item to be decided 
upon is that of the return on the investment to be 
expected on the capital invested in the manufacturing 
process of the plant. This is usually the figure that 
is charged for the use of the money invested in 
machinery. In handling problems it is seldom less 
than 6 per cent or more than 10 per cent. 

When a firm is eager to invest capital, or when 
capital is ample for the business needs, 6 per cent 
is a fair value; but it is manifestly unwise to figure 
6 per cent interest in an investment for handling 
equipment when capital is none too ample, or when 
the same money could be invested at a 10 per cent 
return. No manager conversant with his plant will 
have any difficulty in selecting a percentage that fits 
his operating conditions. 

Upkeep of Apparatus. —This is a more varying 
percentage and is less easy to determine; it varies 
with the particular articles selected, and may range 
anywhere from 5 to 20 per cent. The exact figure 
must be a matter for the individual plant to deter¬ 
mine. 






THE FINANCIAL RETURNS 


51 


Obsolescence. —Used herein as a percentage, this 
factor means the number of years that the apparatus 
should be of use to the plant without replacement by 
a new type of apparatus or by a future improvement 
in the same type which will be of sufficient value to 
necessitate or justify a replacement of the apparatus. 
In almost any case the machinery can be expected to 
be of real service from 5 to 20 years, and a value of 
from 20 to 5 per cent will so provide. The higher 
percentage should be used in the event of uncertainty. 

Depreciation. —As used herein, this term has refer¬ 
ence to the number of years during which the devices 
should earn its freedom: that is, the time in which it 
should pay for itself. After that time, while it may 
be in excellent condition, so far as mechanical detail 
is concerned, it need no longer be kept in the capital 
account. Most handling devices kept in good condi¬ 
tion ought to last for 20 years, except in those cases 
in which it is known beforehand that a change will 
probably have to be made before that time. No 
manager will have any trouble in determining a 
figure after a little thought that will be satisfactory 
for this item. 

Extension to Service. —A little forethought in pro¬ 
viding for this factor, will usually indicate that a 
slight extension will be more or less automatically re¬ 
quired, and a small amount should be added for this 
work. This should not be confused with extensions 
involving additional work—that is a new problem— 
but there should always be sufficient leeway in one’s 
calculations for slight improvements—a percentage of 



52 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

from 3 to 10 per cent will probably be a sufficient safe¬ 
guard. 

Additional Supervision. —All new apparatus re¬ 
quires a little increase in overhead expenses, and an 
amount ranging from one to 5 per cent of its cost 
over the years of its life should adequately cover this 
item. 

Cost of Power, Supplies, Waste, Etc. —This charge 
can be most simply estimated at an upset price per 
year, and can easily be determined according to the 
type of apparatus selected. As stated, the exact value 
given to each one of these percentages is not of the 
highest importance—errors tend to correct one an¬ 
other in the selection of the various values, and no 
manager need hesitate, at the time any plan is being 
analyzed, to take the percentage value for the items 
that his thoughtful judgment considers fair. If he 
use the higher figures on each factor, his margin of 
isafety will be more than ample. 

Sound Judgment Required. —A decision concerning 
any handling plan is usually reached on the grounds 
that the plan is a good one, will expedite production 
and reduce labor effort, and will cost installed a 
certain sum, pay its interest, upkeep, depreciation, 
obsolescence, and so on, and save a certain amount 
each year. Any plan that depends for its utility only 
on the exact return resulting from exact values being 
attached to these percentage items, is of doubtful 
value to the concern. 

On the other hand, the impression should not be 
gained that these items are not of importance. My 






THE FINANCIAL RETURNS 


53 


object in advising the nse of approximate figures is 
to prevent the waste of time and uncertainty of judg¬ 
ment that will ensue in deciding handling problems 
if minute difference in amount and hair-splitting 
methods are used in determining the percentages. 
Figures should be used that one’s best judgment ad¬ 
vises, and they should be used merelv as tools in 
formulating a picture of the advantages and disad¬ 
vantages of the plan of handling which is under con¬ 
sideration. 

In making a decision, it should be remembered 
that even the labor item does not increase or decrease 
in direct proportion to the tonnage, because certain 
help must be employed continuously, whether larger 
or smaller quantities are handled. All of the fore¬ 
going items are fixed charges, and the layout that 
requires the least is preferable. These costs—inter¬ 
est, upkeep, depreciation—are inevitable, like death 
and taxes—once the plant is in, they go on, inex¬ 
orably. Therefore, the items of a plant that carry 
with them these certainties must be examined with 
careful forethought. 

Further, the layout selected will also necessitate 
the employment of a certain crew of operators. This 
too must be considered, because, after the plant is 
installed, the number of operatives is fixed for the 
life of the apparatus. A balance must be made be¬ 
tween the expenses entailed by the investment and 
the labor required to operate the machinery selected. 
The desired object is to get the total of these two 
items for a period of years at the lowest possible 



54 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


point, and to keep the total investment for plant in¬ 
side the limit of good business. 

The boundaries limiting the area of choice are: 
First, investment advisable; second, lowest carrying 
charge of plant to be constructed within this invest¬ 
ment; and third, lowest labor cost of operation. All 
three of these items are interdependent, and the sum¬ 
mation will determine which plan will be the most 
economical in operation. 

The yearly expense—carrying charge plus labor 
cost—can be determined by the use of the analytical 
method outlined in this chapter, and the investment 
justified by the saving made will be shown by the 
use of the formula. 



CHAPTER V 


THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 

Loading and Unloading. —It must be kept in mind 
constantly that the loading and the unloading com¬ 
prise the most important element of cost in handling 
material. It follows that any mechanical device, to 
be more economical than hand labor when the choice 
offers, must be cheaply loaded and unloaded, and 
furthermore must be kept at work. 

It is manifestly uneconomical to have a large power 
truck or other device stand idle, either for loading, 
unloading, or waiting for loads. Hence the advisa¬ 
bility of trailers or skids which may be loaded or un¬ 
loaded while the haulage truck is delivering other 
loaded trailers or returning empties to the warehouse 
for new loads. 

The two-wheeled hand truck, which costs little and 
is easily loaded and unloaded by the man who pushes 
it, is more flexible in its operation, is more eco¬ 
nomical under varying conditions, and will handle 
a more varied product over short, level distances, 
than power-driven devices, when the articles are not 
large or very heavy. 

One instance in which they are applied with prac¬ 
tically universal convenience and economy is in the 
transfer of package freight from car to car in the 



56 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


less-tlian-carload transfer stations of the standard- 
gauge railways. Here the multiplicity of articles, 
the great variety in shape, size, and weight—from 
glass chimneys and baby carriages to rolled-steel 
shaftings and three-ton castings—the various and 
numerous points of car receipt and car shipments, 
and the necessity of a double checking system keep¬ 
ing suitable shipping records, all these demand the 
use of the most flexible system possible; and the 
two-wheel hand truck has so far held its own against 
all other apparatus as the one device that will do 
all the work. 

On the other hand, the electric-storage battery 
truck can be used to great advantage in many cases— 
for instance, in the handling of baggage at railroad 
terminals this device has proved itself both as to 
utility and economy. 

In other words, the needs of the situation—largely 
terminal loading and unloading—determine the type 
of apparatus that is best fitted to do the work. It 
requires the forming of a careful mental picture of 
the needs before any device can be selected for the 
work, and a careful analysis of the financial return 
before the installation can be made with the certainty 
of economic success. 

A thorough appreciation of this fact, and enough 
experience to apply the principles outlined, will 
enable any manager to secure economy in handling 
material at his plant. In addition, the manager must 
be familiar with the commercial apparatus that he 
can utilize to do the work decided upon, and before 


THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 


57 


he can make his plan he must know its character and 
its limitations. 

Two Types of Machinery. —The handling of mate¬ 
rial in manufacturing plants can he divided into two 
general types, which cover almost all cases. This 
division not only is an entirely practical one, but it 
also furnishes a convenient way to consider the sub¬ 
ject. While in a few instances these general divi¬ 
sions overlap, such isolated cases will not confuse the 
reader. Furthermore, the machinerv for these two 
purposes are also "particularly adapted to the two 
divisions; their natural line of cleavage permits divid¬ 
ing them in this manner in describing their useful¬ 
ness in the best and simplest way. The two divisions 
are: 

1. Machinery for handling bulk material, such as coal, ash, 
stone, sand, and ore. 

2. Machinery for handling separate articles, or a number of 
articles collected as a unit. 

In handling material, especially bulk material, a 
further division is helpful in a consideration of the 
handling problem. This division refers to the opera¬ 
tion itself; it is: 

a. Continuous delivery. 

b. Intermittent delivery. 

While these two methods overlap theoretically, as 
in the use of gravity bucket conveyor, yet there are 
few cases that do not range themselves into one or 
the other of these two classes. It is evident, for in- 





58 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


stance, that a belt conveyor is intended for continu¬ 
ous delivery and a grab bucket for intermittent de¬ 
livery. 

The machinery itself may also be divided into two 
sub-classes; first, rapid-moving machinery; second, 
slow-moving machinery. The former is usually in¬ 
tended to handle light unit loads or light loads per 
running foot of machine, and the latter to handle 
heavy unit loads. One depends on high speed for 
capacity, the other on large units moved more slowly. 
The tendency of modern practice is toward the use 
of the slower-moving class handling larger unit 
loads. 

A noticeable exception to the general tendency to 
carry heavier loads more slowly, is in the use of belt 
conveyors for bulk materials moved horizontally or 
up comparatively short low gradients. These and 
rope cash-carrier systems for very light package 
freight, mail, and so on, are the only exceptions of 
general interest to the factory manager. 

Several devices, such as locomotive cranes, over¬ 
head cranes, and telpher hoists, are adapted to the 
handling of both bulk materials and packages and 
unit articles by the use of a special container—such 
as a grab bucket for bulk material and slings or 
electric magnets for packages or individual articles— 
while narrow-gauge tracks and cars with a suitable 
car body will handle both classes. 

If the reader bears in mind these general divisions 
and the major points of overlapping utility, he can 
take advantage of the usefulness of these various 



THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 


59 


types hereafter described, in arranging a suitable 
handling scheme. For instance, a locomotive crane 
fitted with slings, and, in some cases, an electric mag¬ 
net, can be used to unload and handle all sorts of 
supplies and finished product in a storage yard, while 
the same crane fitted with an auxiliary grab bucket 
can handle bulk material like coal and ashes. Being 
a self-moving device, it can be used in any part of 
the plant that can be reached by railroad tracks. 
This type of arrangement possesses the great advan¬ 
tages of pliability, both in its area of operation and 
in its functional operation. Such an instance as this 
is cited as a typical one to show how great an ad¬ 
vantage can be secured by the knowledge of the 
combination that can be made of standard apparatus, 
or how such a single unit can be utilized for a 
wide variety of purposes. 

It will frequently be found that while there is not 
enough work of either kind to justify the use of a 
machine, the combined work will justify the purchase 
and the installation will be a real money-saver. 

Standard Railways. —The standard-gauge railway, 
as used in the manufacturing plant, is the most 
notable example of the overlapping of the two broad 
types of handling machinery above mentioned; for 
here, not only bulk material, but also all supplies, 
package freight, steel shapes, castings, and so on, are 
handled. Frequently, of course, the standard-gauge 
railway in a manufacturing plant is limited to the 
delivery of the supplies to the receiving platform, 
possibly the coal to the power plant, and removing 


60 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


the finished product from the shipping platform or 
the removal of the waste products, including ashes, 
from the plant itself. 

Provision should therefore be made for separate 
receiving and shipping sidings when possible and 
when large quantities are handled. This will permit 
a better arrangement of the plan for handling mate¬ 
rial without retrograde movements and with less con¬ 
fusion, delay, and interference with the separate func¬ 
tions of receiving, storing, manufacturing and ship¬ 
ping. 

Most factories do not use or need a system of 
standard 4-foot 8%-incli gauge tracks throughout the 
plant, but when the manufacturing plant is large, or 
when individual products are heavy or very bulky, 
these tracks are a great convenience and very eco¬ 
nomical. This point should be given careful consider¬ 
ation in the planning of the handling problems and 
plant layout of a large works. 

The General Electric Company at Schenectady, for 
example, has a complete system of standard-gauge 
track and also a narrow-gauge track throughout the 
whole plant, and the transportation in the works, as 
well as the receipt of raw stock, the inter-plant trans¬ 
fers, and the shipment of the finished product, are 
greatly expedited thereby. 

Every case of handling material has its own prob¬ 
lem, it is a separate entity and must be so considered. 
Its relation to previous and subsequent operations, 
the volume to be moved per unit load, the hourly or 
daily capacity, the physical conditions, location, 




THE TERMINAL PROBLEM 


61 


grades to be overcome, et cetera, all make it a sepa¬ 
rate and distinct study. An arrangement that may 
be advisable and economical with one set of condi¬ 
tions may be unsatisfactory or expensive in another 
case. 

Again we have enforced on our attention Burke’s 
definition of economy—“Economy is a distributive 
virtue and consists, not in savings, but in selection— 
it demands a discriminating judgment and a firm, 
sagacious mind.” 



CHAPTER VI 


HANDLING OPERATIONS IN THE TYPICAL 

FACTORY 

Receipt of Material. —Before taking up a descrip¬ 
tion of the various forms of handling machinery, I 
shall outline in a general way the usual typical 
handling operations in a manufacturing plant. I 
shall suggest types of apparatus which may be of 
general use, and whose application will secure the 
greatest economies in handling. 

Assume that the plant is a large one; that it pro¬ 
duces its own power, manufactures its product in 
several buildings; and that it has a large store¬ 
room and a shipping warehouse. 

The first thing to consider, then, is the receipt of 
the raw material and of the purchased manufactured 
supplies that are to be worked into the finished prod¬ 
uct. The receipt of these materials is so closely al¬ 
lied, in its problems, to the shipment of the finished 
product that I shall consider the two subjects to¬ 
gether. 

Three Methods.— There are but three practical 
ways in which material can be received and shipped, 
namely by: 

a. Standard-gauge railways cars 

b. Vessels lying at wharves 

c. Vehicles, either power or horse-drawn 

62 



THE TYPICAL FACTORY 


63 


Many plants are so located that all three methods 
may be used. But the majority of plants do not have 
the three methods available on their own property, 
and are limited to rail receipt and shipments directly 
into or from the plant, supplemented by vehicle 
movements for local supplies and shipments. Others 
are limited to the receipt and shipment by vehicles 
only. The size of the manufacturing units has grown 
to such an extent that a rail connection is a vital 
necessity; this may be supplemented by arrangements 
for the use of vehicles and by water receipt and ship¬ 
ment where possible. 

We shall assume that the plan has all three 
methods at its command. Then, to begin with, before 
the plant can manufacture goods it must have power 
—coal must be received and ashes removed. It is 
particularly desirable that coal be received economic¬ 
ally by all three methods—giving preference, of 
course, to the receipt by the route securing the most 
economical purchase of coal, but providing a means, 
when it is advisable to change, so that one or both 
of the other methods can be used. 

In other words, it is desirable to plan the most 
economical method for the way coal is to be secured, 
but by no means should a method be adopted for 
this purpose which will prevent the use of other 
methods in times of stress. In the above and in the 
following discussion coal is assumed to be the 
material handled, but it should be remembered that 
any bulk material used in the manufacturing pro¬ 
cesses can be handled by the same devices as are 


64 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


suggested for handling the coal. In the same way, 
where ashes are mentioned, the residue of any bulk 
material used in the manufacturing processes can be 
understood. 

It is the customary procedure to provide sufficient 
reserve storage to take care of uncertain delivery, 
which will serve as an insurance of continuous plant 
operation. No matter how the coal is received, the 
daily receipt should be so arranged that it may supply 
the boilers directly, the excess of receipt going to the 
storage pile, thus avoiding the handling and rehan¬ 
dling of this amount of coal to and from the storage 
pile. Wherever practicable, the daily receipt of coal 
should be so delivered that it will flow by gravity to 
the boiler furnaces. In addition, provision for weigh¬ 
ing the coal as received is usually required. Weigh¬ 
ing hoppers are frequently used in the boiler room, 
and they furnish a convenient method of delivering 
known quantities of coal and of keeping the boiler- 
room economy at a high point. 

Water Delivery. —If the coal is received by water 
delivery, either of two methods is applicable, and 
the one selected by the methods outlined in previous 
chapters should be used: First, shoveling by hand 
into coal tubs and hoisting by mast-and-gaff der¬ 
ricks to carts, elevated runways, automatic railways, 
cable railways, conveyors, or hand-pushed cars, which 
deliver the coal to the power house and to the stor¬ 
age pile. Second, by means of a grab bucket on a 
mast-and-gaff hoist to any of the above devices; or 
by grab bucket operated from a fixed or movable 


THE TYPICAL FACTORY 


65 


hoisting tower (steeple tower); by means of a grab 
bucket operated on a bridge or gantry crane running 
over the storage pile to the power house; or by a 
grab bucket operated on a locomotive crane. In ex¬ 
ceptional cases, an unloading device such as that 
used on the Great Lakes may be employed, but these 
cases are so rare that this device need not be con¬ 
sidered except when the tonnage is enormous. 

Coal must be reclaimed from the storage pile and 
taken to the boilers. This carrying may be done by 
hand shoveling to carts or to narrow-gauge railway 
cars, by a conveyor or reloader to the same vehicles, 
by grab-bucket locomotive crane, by a grab bucket 
on a gantry or bridge crane, by grab buckets on 
telphers, or by scrapers, belt or bucket conveyors, or 
steam shovels. 

Railway Delivery.—Where coal is received in rail¬ 
way cars, receiving pockets under the tracks are 
most economical, and the coal will be handled by 
grab buckets, skip hoists, vertical elevator, auto¬ 
matic or narrow-gauge railways, or by conveyor to 
the boiler room and to the coal storage pile. Where 
coal is received by vehicle, the same devices can be 
used. 

In the boiler house itself coal may be elevated and 
delivered by vehicles or cars, platform elevators, skip 
hoists, bucket conveyors, elevators and conveyors, or 
by grab buckets running on overhead tracks, and the 
ashes may be removed by similar means. In all cases 
it is very desirable to have a few days’ supply of 
coal over the boilers. There should also be an ele- 










66 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


vated storage for ashes, in order that they may he 
delivered periodically to carts, standard-gauge rail¬ 
way cars, or boats, for removal. In every case there 
should be some duplicate way of getting coal to fur¬ 
naces, and getting ashes away in case the apparatus 
in daily use should fail. The simple form of a ver¬ 
tical platform elevato v r, operated by steam from the 
boilers, is frequently a cheap and suitable auxiliary. 

Store-Room and Shop. —Other supplies and raw 
material used in manufacturing processes are re¬ 
ceived through the same agencies as coal—by water 
routes, standard-gauge railways, and vehicles. The 
devices for unloading them are numerous and are 
similar to those employed in unloading coal, except 
that bulk-handling apparatus may not be used. To 
the list should be added cranes, trucks of all kinds, 
vertical elevators, roller conveyors, belt conveyors, 
package elevators, compressed-air and hydraulic 
hoists, and narrow-gauge railways. 

Here also the idea of avoiding rehandling and re¬ 
loading should be studied, using the store-room in the 
same manner as the reservoir coal-storage pile. The 
material should be passed as directly as possible to the 
manufacturing operations and as little as possible 
into storage piles to be later rehandled to the ma¬ 
chine operations. 

In the process of manufacturing, the types of 
apparatus above listed are all available, and as one of 
them must be used, the selection of the best plan by 
methods outlined previously is advised. In the store¬ 
room, trucks, cranes, movable hoists, air hoists, nar- 






THE TYPICAL FACTORY 


67 


row-gauge railways, elevators, conveyors of all kinds, 
and tiering machines, may be used. All the types 
outlined above may also be used in the shop itself, 
paricularly cranes, where the work is heavy, as in 
machine shops, erecting floors, foundries, and the 
like. 

In large machine shops and foundries, and in erect¬ 
ing shops, standard-gauge or narrow-gauge railways, 
or power trucks for moving the heavy articles are 
practically a necessity. Also overhead, three-motion 
electric cranes are almost a necessity in all large 
shops; they cover every foot of space beneath them, 
and are most flexible tools. Not only do they do 
yeoman service in handling the material under manu¬ 
facture, but they are of great value in placing and 
repairing machine tools and other equipment. 

In large, or long shops where several overhead 
three-motion cranes are to be used, care must be 
exercised that, as the cranes cannot pass each other, 
there may be as little delay as possible in waiting 
for cranes. This is particularly to be guarded against 
in long foundries making heavy work; and it is sug¬ 
gested that pillar cranes swinging on the posts sup¬ 
porting the crane runways will partially relieve the 
situation, as will also the routing of the material 
crosswise of the building instead of lengthwise, which, 
where the three-motion crane is used, is a condition 
frequently found. Individual-service small cranes or 
hoists (hand, electric, or compressed-air) are fre¬ 
quently great savers of the time of machine tools, 
and should be arranged to serve the individual ma- 


68 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


chine tools and save the heavy three-motion cranes 
as much as possible. 

Continuous Assembly. —In the movement of mate¬ 
rial from machine operation to machine operation, 
hand trucks, conveyors, transveyors, cranes, electric 
trucks and narrow-gauge railways are advisable for 
moving large or heavy pieces separately or small 
articles in boxes or trays, to avoid rehandling. Here 
skids, moved by hand or power transveyors with 
elevating attachments, are particularly useful; so, 
also, are gravity runways, roller conveyors, or hori¬ 
zontal belt or slat conveyors. 

On the assembly floors, trucks and transveyors to 
convey trays of articles, and a crane to command the 
whole space, are usually advisable. Here,* particu¬ 
larly, continuous assembly should be studied, and 
the material may be delivered to advantage in a con¬ 
tinuous stream by conveyors and gravity chutes to 
the assembly conveyor. On the assembly conveyor 
itself, starting from one end of the assembly floor, 
the finished product is assembled piece by piece as 
the machine on the conveyor passes the storage place 
of the articles required in its construction, the com¬ 
pleted machine being automatically delivered to the 
floor by the conveyor. 

When the machine is constructed of several pieces 
and continuous assembly is not practicable, it fre¬ 
quently saves times to have all the minor parts of 
one machine ready in boxes, in order that the whole 
of the detailed equipment may be moved as one unit 
to the assembly floor. When the article under manu- 



THE TYPICAL FACTORY 


69 


facture is very small, the parts for fifty or one hun¬ 
dred articles may sometimes he handled as one unit. 
Much valuable time may be lost in seeking for small 
pieces to complete a machine. This delay is very ex¬ 
pensive—it decreases the output of the plant, de¬ 
stroys the continuity of operation, and wastes the 
time of the skilled workman. It also interferes with 
the shipment schedules, creating all sorts of dis¬ 
turbance and annoyance, and detracting from the ef¬ 
fectiveness of the force, from salesmen to laborers 
in the shop. The amount of time spent in explaining 
and investigating these delays will frequently justify 
a seemingly costly handling equipment to obviate 
them. 

Shipment of Product. —The shipment of articles 
manufactured completes the circle, and the same 
types of apparatus used in receiving the stock can be 
adapted to loading them into cars, vessels, or vehicles. 
It only remains to be said that the shipping point 
should preferably be at a different place than the re¬ 
ceiving platform. 

The above description gives a general idea of the 
character of the handling problems in an ordinary 
manufacturing plant, and suggests the devices which 
can be used and which may be applicable to any case. 
The details of the work itself will dictate the needs 
of the situation, and suitable machinery can be 
selected for the purpose after the actual require¬ 
ments are clearly outlined. 



CHAPTER YII 


THE PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT. 




Commercial Apparatus. —Being a firm believer in 
the wisdom and the economy of the purchase of com¬ 
mercial apparatus, I wish to voice an idea of a 
further economy which, in my opinion, is much 
needed. In order to emphasize this idea of economy, 
I will touch briefly on the practice of asking for bids. 
That I may do so, let me first remind the reader that 
Burke’s definition of Economy lays great stress on 
the fact that it consists “not in saving, but in selec¬ 
tion.” It is the selection of the suitable plan and 
appropriate device for the needs— it is not the adapt¬ 
ing of a device to the needs. 

Many manufacturers offer the services of their 
engineers free to prospective buyers. There is, with¬ 
out doubt, a sincere desire on the part of the manu¬ 
facturer to have the purchaser secure the best appa¬ 
ratus the manufacturer makes for the purpose. But 
it stands to reason that his experience must be 
greater in the application of his particular apparatus 
than in the general question of the selection of the 
various types of apparatus, by whomever manufac¬ 
tured, which will be best for the work; that is, the 
one which, for the needs of tlnfe purchaser, will give 
him the greatest financial returns. 


* For complete details concerning the mechanism of purchasing, 
see “Purchasing and Storing,” by H. B. Twyford; Factory Manage¬ 
ment Course. 


70 






THE PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT 71 

It goes without saying that this offer of the manu¬ 
facturer (which, in the long run, must be paid for 
by the purchaser) should be taken advantage of; to 
exclude it, would be to fail to secure the benefit of 
the manufacturer’s knowledge and experience. But 
before this is done the purchaser should have deter¬ 
mined the type that will best do his work, so that 
the manufacturer’s time and his own may be con¬ 
served and their efforts directed to the work in hand. 

Obtaining' Bids. —It is the function of a factory 
manager, or his assistants, to decide upon the type 
of apparatus which is best suited to the work, and, 
with this matter settled, to ask for bids from manu¬ 
facturers who specialize in making the types selected. 
It is manifestly not a question of the excellence of 
the construction of a device, or of its suitability for 
other work that will determine its purchase, but one 
of selection of the most suitable type. Therefore, 
asking for bids on all sorts of devices when one type 
is particularly adapted for the work, and in all prob¬ 
ability will be selected, is not only unfair to manu¬ 
facturers of other types, but is also a confusing ele¬ 
ment and a time-consumer to the purchaser himself. 

Such a practice not only decreases the selling 
capacity of the salesman, but entails a waste of much 
money in preparing drawings and estimates without 
reasonable hope of making a sale. In addition, when 
carried to its ultimate conclusion, it causes the price 
of the article purchased to be higher than it would 
be if the manufacturer were asked to bid only when 
his type of apparatus were suitable. 


72 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


If a manager does not really know what type of 
apparatus is most suited for his work, when asking 
for bids, in all probability he will give the bids only 
superficial attention; anyway, the matter will not be 
advanced nor will any apparatus be purchased. In 
such cases the whole time spent by purchaser and by 
manufacturer is wasted, and no improvement in 
handling economies is secured. If the bids are hon¬ 
estly considered, many types of apparatus must be 
carefully analyzed and the unsuitable plans rejected, 
causing a great waste of time and diverting attention 
into unprofitable channels. In any case the practice 
is uneconomical and should be avoided. 

Bids should be requested only on the types of ap¬ 
paratus intended to be purchased—a fishing expedi¬ 
tion should not be started to find the solution that 
best fits one’s needs. The problem should be studied; 
bids should be asked for only from responsible manu¬ 
facturers who make these types, and finally the appa¬ 
ratus that offers the greatest advantage over the 
expected term of years of service should be pur¬ 
chased. 




CHAPTER VIII 


THE MACHINERY 

Method of Description. —In the following chapters 
the various types of handling machinery will be de¬ 
scribed—classified as to their most frequent uses— 
and a general idea will be given of tlieir peculiarities, 
capacities, and limitations. To be of service to the 
student of handling problems, to enable him quickly 
to eliminate those not of use in his particular case, 
and to select those he can use for the particular case 
at hand, this description will be explicit, brief, and 
of ready reference. 

For these reasons detailed descriptions of the con¬ 
struction adopted by different manufacturers, the 
numerous variations of form, and the many allied 
uses to which the devices may be put, are not dwelt 
upon. The descriptions and limitations must be con¬ 
sidered as a general guide to the most frequent utility 
of the apparatus, rather than as an exhaustive expo¬ 
sition of detailed functions. The thoughtful reader 
will have no difficulty in making such applications 
when the work requires it, and will do so much more 
quickly and efficiently if this form of detail is not 
obtruded upon his attention. 

This manner of description also permits a quick 
reference by either of two methods to the device 

73 


74 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


that will do the work—the one, through the name of 
the device to the description of it; the other, through 
the character of the work. 

The reader’s needs will best be served by giving 
this information under two general headings—ma¬ 
chinery suitable for handling bulk materials, and 
machinery intended to handle individual articles or 
groups thereof. The descriptions will be supple¬ 
mented by reference to the utility of the articles 
themselves. 

If the problem be one of handling bulk materials, 
reference to the chapter giving the names of the de¬ 
vices used for this purpose will refresh the reader’s 
mind as to the particular apparatus available, from 
which one or several devices may be selected for use. 
When this has been done, reference by name of the 
article to the detailed description of it under its 
proper heading, will give at once the particular 
adaptability and limitations of the device itself. 

With this method in mind, the reader may readily 
select the types of apparatus that will answer his 
purpose, and decide which particular device possesses 
the qualities needed for the work to be performed. 

It is recommended that the device be selected in 
accordance with the analytical description and the 
general principles outlined in previous chapters. 

Factors in Cost of Handling. —The cost of handling 
material varies even for the same material handled 
by the same devices owing to different environment, 
and therefore reasoning by analogy from part records 
in other places may be misleading. The quantity. 




THE MACHINERY 


75 


regularity of receipt, climatic conditions, labor re¬ 
quirements, and cost of keeping on the staff men 
ready for duty when the material arrives, are all 
factors that affect the cost. The carrying charge on 
the equipment is also important, and while it is com¬ 
paratively a fixed sum in a year’s time for any given 
equipment, it varies greatly per ton handled. For 
these reasons no attempt has been made to indicate 
the costs per ton of handling material with the 
various devices described here. 

The kind of work that the mechanisms will do, the 
speed of operation obtainable, the general character¬ 
istics of the mechanisms, and their fitness for certain 
work, are outlined. 

It is expected that the reader, when analyzing the 
costs, will take into consideration the quantity to be 
handled, labor conditions, physical environment, and 
so on, and will utilize the analytical method described 
in Chapter IV, to determine the estimated cost of the 
year’s operation, from which he can readily deduce 
the probable cost per ton of material handled for his 
particular situation. 

This is an accurate method and one easily em¬ 
ployed, and, because it takes into consideration all 
the operating conditions, it is a reliable method and 
much more satisfactory than reasoning by rule-of- 
thumb or comparing by analogy seemingly similar 
conditions. 

Illustrations An Aid in Selection. —When the 
reader has absorbed and digested the suggestions 
outlined up to this point in the present volume, he 


76 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


will be in a position to select from the plans pre¬ 
pared the one that will best serve his purpose. Before 
making this selection he will have to be familiar, or 
to become familiar, with the various types of appa¬ 
ratus that may be used, their field of usefulness, and 
their limitations. The later portion of this book is 
written to give him this information in a concise and 
useful form, arranged in a manner permitting of 
ready reference. 

Appeals to the brain, through the eye, by means 
of photographic reproductions, is one of the best 
methods of conveying ideas of apparatus and of their 
application to the work of handling material; fre¬ 
quently a better idea of the apparatus itself and of 
its use will be gained by a glance at a photographic 
illustration showing the device at work, than will be 
secured from pages of detailed description. 

For this reason, illustrations will be used in con- 
nection with the text. The photographs from which 
these illustrations were made were furnished by the 
manufacturers of the devices, and will greatly help 
the reader to comprehend quickly the type and the 
utility of the mechanisms. Obviously, this is an ex¬ 
cellent way to describe the devices, although of course 
it will be impossible to illustrate an example of each 
manufacturer’s product of any given type of appa¬ 
ratus. 

The reader should never assume that there is any 
implication that any manufacturer’s type illustrated 
is either the only one or the best of its kind. Usually 
there are several manufacturers who make their own 



THE MACHINERY 


77 


detailed construction of any type of apparatus illus¬ 
trated. 

In selecting the illustrations and the tables of 
dimensions, capacities, and other details, it has been 
my desire to choose these illustrations from among 
those to be had from the many well-known makers 
where they seem to convey most clearly the informa 
tion desired. 

Determining Capacities of Equipment. —In estimat¬ 
ing capacities and in selecting units of suitable size, 
to fill requirements, it will usually be found that the 
capacity of most devices for handling material is a 
very uncertain item, for the reason that it depends 
so much on the personal skill of the operator and 
upon his desire to accomplish the work without delay. 
Since this item is also affected by the location of the 
plant and by incidental conditions—including the 
way in which the material is received and so on— 
the question of the size of the device selected becomes 
of great importance. If one over-estimates the capa¬ 
city required and under-estimates the working capa¬ 
city and the working speeds of operation, he over¬ 
does the matter and the result is too large and ex¬ 
pensive a plant, with its consequently heavier carry¬ 
ing charge and the loss of economy. If, on the other 
hand, one under-estimates the daily needs and over¬ 
estimates the working capacity of the device selected, 
the result is an inadequate plant. 

I have found it a satisfactory method to estimate 
as accurately as possible the exact daily require¬ 
ments, add to this amount a percentage to provide 


78 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


for variations and increased future requirements, and 
then to select the size which, under the working con¬ 
ditions to be met, will be more than ample for this 
quantity of work. 

This “more than ample’’ means a possible maxi¬ 
mum daily or hourly capacity, for intermittently 
working machinery, of from 1% to 2 times the needed 
capacity, and for continuously operating machinery a 
maximum of from l 1 /^ to IV 2 times the required capa¬ 
city. This point is not easily settled—the decision 
requires judgment, and we are again reminded of 
Burke’s statement that it “requires a firm sagacious 
mind.” 

Lists of mechanisms for handling different mate¬ 
rials are given in a very terse way in the final 
chapter. There is only a brief explanation of the 
method of operation, the list being for the purpose 
of calling the attention of the reader to the devices, 
one or several of which may serve his purpose. It is 
expected that the reader will refer to the detailed 
descriptions of the devices in Chapters IX to XIX 
inclusive. 

Handling Methods. —Although the general details 
of the mechanisms and the purposes for which they 
are most frequently used are outlined under proper 
headings, it may be well to give a few illustrations 
of how some of the devices are sometimes used, to 
help the reader to a broader understanding of the 
subject. Although to many these illustrations will 
recall arrangements that are familiar, nevertheless it 
will be well to refresh the memory by the recollec- 






THE MACHINERY 


79 


tion, and the illustrations cited may bring a fresh 
train of thought that may help solve some other prob¬ 
lem. On the other hand, to those to whom these 
illustrations are new, they may be very helpful in 
creating a picture that may shed some light on the 
problem at hand. 

Most of us will recall at once seeing coal hoisted 
from a vessel or railroad car in self-dumping tubs, 
filled by hand and hoisted by a mast-and-gaff, tub 
elevator, or steeple tower to a hopper. This hopper 
discharges the coal into a wheel-barrow or a hand- 
pushed narrow-gauge car, or onto an automatic rail¬ 
way, a cable railway, or a belt, bucket, or scraper 
conveyor, which runs out over the storage pile and 
discharges its load. Some of us have seen, also, the 
tub hoisted by a horse—the animal walks forward to 
hoist the load, and backs up to lower the empty 
bucket. Fewer of us, I venture to say, have seen a 
variation of this last-named arrangement, where the 
horse walks around in a circle to do the hoisting; 
this method is seldom used, but was common at one 
time. 

Alternate Handling Mediums. —As said before, 
economy in moving material is secured by “ avoiding 
the handling’’ of it, and by the selection of the most 
suitable apparatus. Selection, then, requires first a 
mental menu of the available ways from which to 
select the diet the patient needs—that is, the device 
that will give the largest return for the money in¬ 
vested. Remember that there are usually several 
ways to do the work, as well as several types of ap- 



80 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


paratus with which to do it. What one wants to dis¬ 
cover is the best way. I should like to create in the 
mind of the reader so intimate a knowledge of the 
apparatus which can be used, that he will have in 
mind a large list of apparatus from which to select 
the type that will serve him best. 

With this point made, let us proceed and call to 
mind other instances of handling bulk material. Per¬ 
sonally I have never seen women carrying coal in 
baskets on their heads to coal or unload a ship, but 
nevertheless such a method is employed in some 
regions. At other places, cranes with grab buckets, 
large gantry cranes or bridges with grab buckets are 
used. So too, are telpher hoists, cable automatic 
railways, and conveyors. There are few of us who 
have not seen locomotive cranes unloading with a 
grab bucket from vessel or railroad car to a storage 
pile, and reversing the operation to take coal from 
the coal pile for distribution throughout the plant 
by conveyors, railways or trucks, or the same crane 
handling ferrous metals with an electric magnet. 
Some of us have seen the large storage pile, with 
thousands of tons of material that are later reclaimed 
by overhead cranes, steam shovels, or scraper con¬ 
veyors from the level, and by conveyors or cars from 
a tunnel under the pile. 

In various boiler rooms it is not unusual to find 
several different things used, from the wheelbarrow 
to the traveling weighing hopper for weighing the 
coal to each stoker, including skip hoists, narrow- 
gauge railways, conveyors of all kinds, platform ele- 






THE MACHINERY 


81 


vators, telphers, grab buckets, and coal tubs, belt 
conveyors, and other devices of similar nature. 

Above all, it should be established that the boiler 
room is not a museum of handling apparatus. I 
advise the greatest simplicity of plan and apparatus 
that will do the work properly, and one that will also 
provide a duplicate way (if need be, even a crude 
one) of doing the work in case of a breakdown. 

Some of us have seen the cement roadways now 
beginning to be used in large railroad shops and 
factories in place of narrow gauge tracks, with a 
small automobile arranged to haul trailers; and others 
will recall yards with a sufficiently smooth floor to 
allow hand trucks or electric trucks to go anywhere 
in the plant. 

Unusual Applications. —Who is not familiar with 
roller conveyors handling boxes, belt conveyors han¬ 
dling bags, package elevators handling barrels, tiering 
machines making piles of baled goods, pneumatic sys¬ 
tems carrying bulk material, gravity chutes handling 
all sorts of boxes, bundles, and packages? Few, I 
venture to say, have observed bucket conveyors han¬ 
dling tomatoes in porcelain buckets, to make soup, or 
belt conveyors handling felt hats, or platform elevators 
handling bananas. Some of us rode on the moving 
sidewalk at the World’s Fair at Chicago in 1893, and, 
much more recently, have defied the physician’s 
orders to get all the exercise possible, and have used 
the escalators at stores and railway stations. 

These instances are cited to call attention to the 
great variety of objects that may be accomplished 


82 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


with a given device, and with the aid of a little 
creative imagination. The object of this book is to 
stimulate the imagination, to call to mind the various 
devices that may he used for handling, and to do this 
in such a way that the reader, in visualizing these 
devices, will recognize those suitable for his needs 
and will apply them effectively. 

Generically, a conveyor is a conveyor—that’s all. 
It is for the moving of material, and it matters not 
a whit whether that material be coal or tomatoes, 
bananas or passengers, hats or tooth picks. Its re¬ 
ceptacles, its speeds, and its strength must be suitable 
with respect to the things moved. 

Simplicity of Mechanism. —Those who have seen 
the conveyor at the Ford automobile factory for 
moving the crank shaft from lathe operation to lathe 
operation, will have had a lesson in simplicity of 
mechanism that it will be well to cherish. To my 
mind, it is one of the most perfect conveyors I have 
ever known. It is psychologically and mechanically 
perfect. It is the “lowest-first-cost” device that one 
could imagine. Its upkeep is practically nothing. 
What is it, do you say? Let me first tell you what 
it does: 

1. —It keeps several crank shafts ahead of each 
workman. Machine and man at top speed. Good 
business! 

2. —It reduces the labor of putting the crank shaft 
into the lathe—efficient! 

3. —It works in such a way that the workman does 
not have to move from his working position either 



THE MACHINERY 


83 


to get the piece on which he is to work or to send 
away the piece he has finished—conserves the skilled 
worker’s effort! 

What is this conveyor? Nothing but two parallel 
strips of metal—a rollway—which are placed at such 
an angle that the crank shafts roll from one ma¬ 
chine to the other by gravity, and which are at such 
a height and position that the skilled workman has 
to perform only a slight amount of physical work— 
he simply puts the finished crank shaft on the strips 
at the tail end of the lathe, and picks up a new shaft 
from the head end of the lathe. 

This is a lesson in simplicity, economy, and psy¬ 
chology. Keep it in mind, for it will prevent many 
a blunder and will be a stimulant to the best of us. 
It is a good example of what can be done in con¬ 
tinuous production. 

Continuous Assembly. —The continuous assembly of 
the automobile engine is another instance of effi¬ 
ciency in this plant. The main cylinder casting is 
placed on a moving conveyor, and the numerous ac¬ 
cessories—valves, pistons, screws, bolts, and what¬ 
nots—are put on, one by one, by various workmen. 
As the casting, moved by the conveyor, slowly passes 
the men at their various stations, each man has cer¬ 
tain duties to perform. Then, too, a number of work¬ 
men can get at each side, each end, and the top at 
the same time. When these operations are all com¬ 
pleted, something has to be done to the bottom of 
the casting on the conveyor. But the engine is rest¬ 
ing on the conveyor. What is to be done? Does Mr. 


84 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

Ford stop his conveyor and put in a machine to turn 
over the engine? Not he. He uses a cam, and when 
the engine reaches a certain point it slides off the 
conveyor, slowly rotates by gravity about a hori¬ 
zontal axis at right angles to the line of motion, and 
safely deposits itself, unfinished side up, on another 
conveyor, where the work of assembly is completed 
and the finished engine is ready to be installed in its 
place on the chassis ready for inspection. 

Fundamentals of the Handling Problems. —These 
instances—the conveyor for handling automobile-en¬ 
gine crank shafts, the devices used to permit con¬ 
tinuous assembly of the automobile engines—are 
used, as others have been, to impress on the mind of 
the thoughtful reader certain fundamental truths 
which must be understood and thoroughly appre¬ 
ciated if the greatest economy in handling material is 
to be secured. The following points, then, are ex¬ 
tremely important: 

1. —Personal attitude:—Create the most favorable 
mental attitude in your workmen, to expedite pro¬ 
duction. To keep plenty of work ahead of them, in 
a convenient place, and so arranged as to be handled 
with the least mental and physical effort, is a great 
help. They instinctively wish to do more, and do it, 
if the job is available. 

2. —Simplicity of apparatus—The two instances 
cited above are better proof of the value of simplicity 
than argument. 

These things—helpful mental attitude of the work¬ 
men, convenience of the articles to be machined and 






THE MACHINERY 


85 


consequent simplicity and saving of labor effort—are 
three evidences of good work in the solution of a 
handling problem. If a plan secures these, one may 
feel sure that he has not gone far wrong. If, with 
these secured, the analysis of the financial return is 
satisfactory, and the improvement is in line with the 
future development of the business as definitely pre¬ 
dicted, one may rest assured that he has done good 
work, and he may accept the results as satisfactory 
and go ahead with confidence that success will be 
attained. 


CHAPTER IX 



STANDARD GAUGE RAILWAYS 

Location with Relation to Plant Buildings. —The 

standard gauge railway is too well known to need 
any great description or much discussion of its appli¬ 
cation, further than to call attention to the require¬ 
ments for adequate receiving and shipping sidings as 
well as for special sidings for coal at the boiler room 
and under the unloading and reloading cranes. At¬ 
tention should be called, however, to the necessity 
for locating the plant buildings in relation to the 
main rail connections, so that if the plant promises to 
grow to larger proportions, the standard gauge track 
can be carried to the necessary future receiving and 
delivery points. 

It is obviously cheaper to unload bulk materials 
from bottom dump cars than from flat-bottomed gon¬ 
dolas. It is also obvious that it is cheaper to unload 
heavy castings or bulky articles from a flat car than 
from a box car. In moving these cars, steam or elec¬ 
tric locomotives would be the most advantageous if 
the car movements are frequent. Explosion engines— 
internal combustion engines—can be used for yard 
work. Where labor conditions or municipal require¬ 
ments demand a “full train crew”, electric trolley 
locomotives may be used with less labor cost. Where 





STANDARD GAUGE RAILWAYS 


87 


neither steam or electric locomotives are suitable, 
compressed air or explosion engine locomotives are 
indicated. 

There is no intent in this statement to imply criti¬ 
cism of explosion or compressed air engine, but sim¬ 
ply to state that the steam or electric types are more 
generally used and more frequently are the most con¬ 
venient. 

Elevated Trestles. —One of the cheaper methods of 
unloading bulk cargo from railway cars is to run 
them up a trestle, open the bottom dump doors, and 
allow the material to fall in piles. The only labor 
required is that of cleaning up the corners and flat 
portions of the cars. Frequently it is possible to pro¬ 
cure cars for the delivery of bulk materials which 
have hopper bottoms, so that practically all of the 
material may run out without the necessity for hand 
trimming. 

Several devices are used for taking the cars from 
lower levels to the higher levels of the trestle. Those 
most frequently employed are locomotives and car 
hauls. For taking cars from a higher to a lower 
level, inclined trestles with a down grade of nine to 
twelve inches per hundred feet of length are gener¬ 
ally employed. In these cases the cars are lowered 
by gravity under control of the hand brake. 

Car Hauls. —Where room for an incline permits, the 
railroad company will frequently push its cars up the 
incline to the trestle with their own locomotives. This 
plan has the advantage of simplicity and economy and 
hence this method should be considered in laying out 


88 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


a trestle. It may be of advantage for the plant to 
obtain its own locomotive in order to utilize this 
advantage. The disadvantage of the method is that 
a long trestle is required with a consequent cost of 
upkeep, and the economies of this method should be 
balanced against other forms of car haul. 

Where possible, the train of cars should be placed 
on a siding which has a down grade to the unloading 
point, as this will permit letting the cars down, one by 
one as needed. This obviates the necessity of any 
mechanical apparatus for moving the cars to the un¬ 
loading point. 

Car Hauls for Level Work and Slight Inclines.— 

Cars may be hauled by steam or electric locomotives, 
or by winches directly by means of a wire rope or by 
an endless rope carried on pulleys along the track and 
attached to the car for moving it forward or back¬ 
ward as desired. Such hauls can be adopted with 
capacities from one to a number of cars as desired, 
the strength of the engine or of the rope being made 
to correspond to the work. 

These devices are particularly useful where a train 
of loaded cars is run on a siding and the cars must be 
placed one by one over a receiving hopper or under 
an unloading crane. Where any large amount of 
shifting is required, this method should be considered 
carefully and its economy ascertained. 

Car Hauls on Steep Inclines.— Where inclines are 
steep, such as the approach to an overhead trestle, a 
method of rope haulage operated by steam or electric 
engines may be very satisfactorily utilized. It is gen- 




STANDARD GAUGE RAILWAYS 


89 


erally customary, however, to handle only one car at 
a time by this method on account of the heavy load 
arising from the steep grade. The mechanism em¬ 
ployed for the purpose consists of a steam or electric 
engine, from the drum of which a wire rope is laid 
between the rails of the track. Attached to the end 
is a small four-wheeled carriage, sometimes called a 
“ground hog.” This carriage runs upon rails located 
between the rails of the car track, and upon reach¬ 
ing the lower level it is carried down below grade, 
so that the railroad car on the main track will pass 
over it freely. With the car and carriage in posi¬ 
tion, the hoisting engine is started and the carriage 
is pulled forward, engaging with the axle or back 
of the car, in which position it pushes the car ahead 
of it up the incline. At the top of the incline the 
railroad car is then free to move forward to the point 
desired. The car may be lowered by the reverse 
operation, or it may be shunted over to a return 
track by gravity or by other lowering device. 

Car Hauls for Short and Slight Grades. —A power 
operated conveyor, with chains and links which 
carry arms to engage the axles of railway cars, is 
sometimes used for hauling up slight inclines and 
for spotting them at different points. In some cases, 
this device may be the most advantageous; but in 
considering it, I would suggest that its cost, con¬ 
venience, and upkeep be compared with one of the 
systems employing wire rope haulage for the same 
purpose. 

Capstans. —Readers who are familiar with work 


90 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



This illustration shows the size to which coal handling equipment 
have been developed where large quantities must be handled. The 
standard gauge electric 60 ton capacity side dump transfer car re¬ 
ceived coal from the car elevating and dumping hoist shown in the 
center, distributes it into a trench from which a large grab bucket 
bridge crane picks it up and stores it to the left. Brown Hoisting 
& Machinery Company at Didier-March Plant, Bethlehem, Pa. 

at wharves and docks will appreciate the usefulness 
of the capstans so generally used for warping boats 
into their docks. But their application should not 
end there: in factories, they present decided advan¬ 
tages for shifting and spotting railroad cars. The 
two types in general use are the hand capstan and 
the electric capstan. 














STANDARD GAUGE RAILWAYS 


91 


The hand capstan is simply a freely revolving 
vertical spindle, about which a haulage rope is given 
a few turns to secure its grip by friction, one end 
of the rope winding in as the other end winds oft. 
It is operated direct by a hand lever, the operator 
either walking around the capstan or, if it is fitted 
with a ratchet, by alternately pulling and pushing 
the handle. The capstan usually has two gear re¬ 
ductions, the higher speed being used for light loads 
and the lower speed for heavy loads. Proper haulage 
tension is secured through tension on the slack line. 

Electric capstans are similar to hand capstans in 
appearance but are operated by electric motors at¬ 
tached to the base of the spindle. These devices 
are comparatively new and details of their construc¬ 
tion may be secured from their manufacturers. An¬ 
other type with a horizontal spindle may also be 
obtained which operates like the winch on the main 
shaft of a general utility hoisting engine. Both of 
these types can be used for hauling railway cars 
on sidings where the load or distance make the 
hand capstans inadequate. They are operated in 
the same way as the hand capstan; that is, the pull 
on the rope is secured by several turns around the 
capstan and the amount of tension is controlled by 
the pull on the slack line. 

Pinch Bars. —It may seem unnecessary to the 
reader to be reminded that standard gauge railway 
cars are sometimes moved by means of the ordinary 
pinch bar; those who have used it for this purpose 
or have seen it thus employed can appreciate its 


92 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

difficulties under unfavorable conditions. It may 
be well to state, however, that a pinch bar is now 
being made with a compounding lever action, which 
is more effective as a device for the purpose and 
may be employed under some conditions in place 
of a more costly apparatus. 

Car Tipples. —The principle upon which all vari¬ 
eties of car tipples work has for its object the rapid 
economic unloading of the car, and in all forms 
this is secured by rotating the car to such a posi¬ 
tion that its load will all flow out without hand 
shovelling. They are chiefly used for handling ores 
and coal, and their use is more frequent on railroad 
piers and in plants where the raw materials come 
from local mines than they will be to the manager 
of the average factory. Since the device is also 
highly advantageous in the rapid unloading of mine 
cars, they are made in a variety of sizes for han¬ 
dling cars of all gauges. The end method of dump¬ 
ing, common with the short four-wheel cars, is not 
suitable for use with the standard gauge, eight-wheel 
cars. 

Tipples for Standard Gauge Cars. —The differ¬ 
ence in size between the freight cars used for han¬ 
dling bulk material in England and on the conti¬ 
nent of Europe and those in the United States has 
caused a decided difference in the development of 
the car tipple for this purpose in Europe and Amer¬ 
ica. The small continental trucks lend themselves 
more easily to the mine tipple form, although many 
European manufacturers build types which rotate 




STANDARD GAUGE RAILWAYS 


93 



Car Dumping Machine. This device lifts a loaded railroad car, turns it so the material 
flows out over one side and by means of a large chute directs it into the hold of the ves¬ 
sel laying alongside. The vertical height at which the car is dumped is adjustable. 

(McMyled Interstate Co.) 






















94 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


the ear as well as tilt it forward and have arranged 
to operate these tilting devices by hydraulic pres¬ 
sure, by wire ropes, and by gearing. In addition, 
cranes of the gantry type have been used sometimes 
to lift the cars from the tracks and tilt them. 

In some cases the cars are clamped in a cylindrical 
frame and are rolled upward and outward, dumping 
their load from the side into a chute. Or the cars 
may be run on to a carriage which runs up an in 
incline, tipping the car forward at the top and dis¬ 
charging the load over the end, as in the mine 
tipples. Where the large eight-wheel, bulk cargo 
carrying cars are employed, the tipple most fre¬ 
quently seen is one in which the cars are rolled 
on to a platform by means of a car haul. The plat¬ 
form, by means of suitable hoisting engine, lifts the 
car vertically, and when the desired height is 
reached rotates the car about a horizontal axis at 
the out-board side of the platform until it reaches 
an angle at which the coal or other material will 
run out over the side. The car being firmly clamped 
to the platform remains thereon, while the material 
flows off and is received on a chute the length of 
the car and narowing gradually to the delivery point. 
The device is arranged so that the tilting and dump¬ 
ing may occur at any desired height above the grade 
of the yard tracks; being adjustable, unnecessary 
hoisting and unnecessary breaking of the material 
is avoided. The chute which receives the coal is 
also adjustable, both as to the point of receiving 
and the point of discharging of the material. The 




STANDARD GAUGE RAILWAYS 


95 


whole structure is made of structural steel, is very 
substantial, and can be operated either by steam or 
electricity. One of the well-known types for this 
work is known as the “McMyler Car Dump.” 

The use of such tipples is indicated when large 
amounts of material are to be handled daily from 
cars to vessels, or from cars to piles, or pits, from 
which it is subsequently removed by grab bucket 
devices. Their capacity is enormous, and I have 
seen them when working handle on an average a 
car every two minutes for hours at a stretch. This 
would mean thirty 50-ton cars unloaded in an hour, 
or in the neighborhood of 1,500 tons per hour. 

Mine Tipple. —For small narrow gauge cars hav¬ 
ing four wheels, the ordinary mine tipple is fre¬ 
quently used. In this form the car runs on a hinged 
platform which is tilted forward so that the ma¬ 
terial flows out of the forward end of the car. These 
mine tipples for cars of various gauges and vari¬ 
ous sizes can be purchased of the manufacturers 
of narrow gauge railways, particularly those en¬ 
gaged in the construction of cars for mining opera¬ 
tion. 



CHAPTER X 


NARROW GAUGE, AUTOMATIC, AND CABLE 

RAILWAYS 

Narrow Gauge Track Systems. —Narrow gauge 
tracks for all gauges from eighteen to thirty-six 
inches can be readily purchased ready to lay, with 
track curves and switches made up with steel 
cross-ties. Cast iron sections of straight and curved 
track, as well as cross-overs and turn tables carry¬ 
ing rails as integral portion of the track castings, 
are also on the market. The rails used in such 
tracks range in weight from twelve to thirty pounds 
per yard. 

The limits of effectiveness of narrow gauge rail¬ 
ways in the manufacturing plant are: 

1. The amount that one man can push. 

This varies of course with the different types of 
cars and their construction. It is seldom more than 
two tons and is generally less. The switches and 
curves around which the cars must be pushed are 
the real points of limitation. This should always 
be remembered in selecting narrow gauge cars. 
Nothing is gained by installing cars that one man 
can push on a straight level track but is forced 
to call for help at the curves or on slight grades. 
With the use of power-driven locomotives—steam, 
gasoline or electric—this phase is of less importance 

96 



NARROW GAUGE AND CABLE RAILWAYS 97 


than when the cars are pushed by hand. Neverthe¬ 
less, there must always be more or less hand push¬ 
ing of cars, and in consequence this factor must 
receive careful consideration. 

2. Inflexibility of the system. 

In almost all cases the track must be laid in per¬ 
manent form, and consequently the utility of the 
system is greatly impaired. 

3. Rehandling of material. 

The radius of curves limited by the layout of 
the plant frequently prevents the tracks from reach¬ 
ing many machines in the shop. This necessitates 
rehandling the material as well as the utilization 
of valuable floor space. For this reason a careful 

analvsis must be made between the use of narrow 

•/ 

gauge railways and the use of hand transveyors 
and electric transveyors and trucks. Where the 
railways can be used with trailer cars and this 
loading and reloading obviated, the railways are 
more economical than when these operations must 
be performed. Transveyors, both hand and electric, 
can be utilized to handle skids, so that loading and 
reloading can be reduced. 

The narrower the gauge, the more flexible the 
system; for curves can be shorter in radius, say 
from twelve feet up—a distinct advantage. But at 
the same time, the narrower the gauge, the less 
bulky are the loads that can be carried. Cars are 
more stable on wide gauges. Hence advantages 
from very narrow gauges offset the advantages of 


98 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



tration shows how all parts of a factory can be reached by narrow 
gauge tracks. Turntables and cross overs at various angles are also 

standard purchasable products. 

tlie wider gauges, and the relative value is therefore 
dependent upon local conditions. 

Cars suitable for a great variety of purposes are 
made for these railways—coal cars for use in boiler 
rooms, side dump, bottom dump, hand dump, and 
flat top. The particular kind that is preferable 
depends upon the kind of work to be done, and is 
usually easy to determine. When the working loads 
are more than three tons, cars twenty-four inches 
in width or wider are indicated. 

Motive Power for Moving Cars. —When the load 
and the extent of movement is light, men can be 


























NARROW GAUGE AND CABLE RAILWAYS 99 



Special turntable without tracks on the turning portion used only 
for rigid wheel base cars. Note that the turntable and the track 
approaches are of cast iron. (Whiting Foundry 
& Equipment Company.) 

used to push the cars around the track. When the 
work is heavy but not of large amount, horses or 
mules are employed. When the work is heavy and 
continuous, gasoline or other explosive engines are 
indicated, especially when the risk of fire is not a 
factor and where electric overhead wires are not 
permissible or the run so long that electric trolley 
construction is undesirable. Where trolley wires 
are permissible, electric locomotives are preferable— 
third-rail construction is distinctly not recommended 
in a manufacturing plant. Storage battery loco¬ 
motives are indicated where they are more economical 
than other types, and where the work to be done 
is within the capacity of the battery. Compressed 
air locomotives may be employed when the necessity 
of the plant requires this type. 






100 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


All of the above locomotives are readily pur¬ 
chasable for all gauges between eighteen and thirty- 
six inches and in any size from three tons up,—the 
tractive effort is roughly fifteen to twenty per cent 
of the weight of the locomotive on the driving 
wheels. Steam locomotives are used on wider gauges 
and are indicated when steam is preferable to elec¬ 
tricity. 

Automatic Railways. —An automatic railway is 
a gravity-operated railway with a minimum down 
grade of three per cent. The run is limited to 500 
feet or less and all curves must be located near the 
loading end, usually within 75 feet thereof and with 
a radius of 50 feet or more. The track gauge is 
usually about 21 inches outside of railheads, the 
rails being about twelve or sixteen pounds to the 
yard. The use of an automatic railway is indicated 
whenever there is special material to be moved, and 
wherever it can be installed it constitutes one of 
the great labor savers. They are most frequently 
used in connection with hoisting towers for unload¬ 
ing vessels and also for transporting material back 
from the wharf. 

The load can be dumped anywhere along a straight 
line, the car returning to the loading position auto¬ 
matically. The car is started on its outward run 
by a man who pushes it a few feet to give it the 
slight momentum required for completing the down¬ 
ward trip. The loaded car runs down a slight in¬ 
cline of about three feet per 100 feet. In making 
this run the car gathers momentum and picks up 


NARROW GAUGE AND CABLE RAILWAYS 101 


a cross bar lying on the track. The cross bar is 
connected by a wire rope to a weight, usually of 
triangular form, so adjusted as to absorb the mo¬ 
mentum gradually. The car is automatically dumped 
by striking a dump block placed at the dumping 
point on the track and the empty car is returned 
to its starting point through the stored power from 
the weight. A simple example of the application 
of such a device is seen in the popular sand toys 
for children. 

The length of the run is usually limited to about 
500 feet or less from the starting point, and the 
track must be straight except for the first 75 feet 
or so from the starting point. The purpose of 
the curve is to permit the track to be carried in a 
straight line over the storage pile. 

Railways are built in two sizes for handling one- 
ton and two-ton cars. The cars deliver their load 
simultaneously on both sides of the track, which 
must be elevated, from side doors which are tripped 
when the dumping block is reached. The bottom 
of the cars slope from the center to both sides, and 
both of the ends slope back so as to provide room 
for the discharge of the load. By the selection of 
a proper size and strength of car, angle of bottom, etc., 
all bulky materials may be handled by these cars, 
except such material as may adhere to the bottom 
and sides. They are especially suitable for hand¬ 
ling coal, ore, s^nd, gravel, stone, and so on. 

Where automatic railways can be used they are 
extremely economical—possibly the most economical 


102 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


device that can be found. They are simple in con¬ 
struction, durable in use, low in first cost and in¬ 
expensive in maintenance. About one minute is 
consumed in making the average round trip; but in 
ordinary work about thirty trips per hour is the 
average, allowing time for loading and unloading. 
Only one man is required to start the car, to close 
the doors on the return trip, and to operate the 
valves that fill the car. By changing the position 
of the dumping block and the cross bar on the 
weight rope, the car will dump its load anywhere 
on the track and return empty to its loading position 
without further attention. 

Wind shields on the runways are sometimes re¬ 
quired, for the car is returned by the action of the 
energy stored in the counterweight, and heavy head 
winds or side winds will reduce the effort of the 
counterweight. Such a shield is usually unnecessary, 
because the crane or hoisting apparatus which de¬ 
livers the material to the cars is not apt to be 
operated during high winds. I have known cases, 
however, when wind shields have been required 
when it was necessary to work the railway under 
all weather conditions. The suggestion of wind 
shields is made, therefore, to call attention to the 
possibility of incurring this expense under extreme 
cases. 

Cable Railways. —Cable railways are usually nar¬ 
row gauge tracks about twenty to twenty-four-inch 
gauge, although wider gauges can be used where 
curves of short radius are not required. 



NARROW GAUGE AND CABLE RAILWAYS 103 



The two cables in this automatic cable railway move in opposite 
directions. An automatic grip on each car releases the cable when 
the car reaches the end of its run, and picks up the return cable, 
when its load is discharged. (Mead-Morrison Mfg. Co.) 

Tliese railways are used where the line of the 
run is beyond the limits or where the quantity to 
be handled exceeds the capacity of the automatic 
railway. They are operated by a running wire rope 
to which the cars are permanently or temporarily 
attached. 

The cars will go around curves, some types will 
go around curves as sharp as 12 feet radius; and 
up or down slight grades, say up to 7% per cent 
grades for the cars that are temporarily fastened 








104 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


to the rope and much steeper grades where the cars 
are permanently fastened to the rope. The two types 
in general practice are known as shuttle and con¬ 
tinuous railways. 

Shuttle Cable Railway. —The shuttle type has the 
caT permanently fastened to the cable and the cable 
is hauled in and out over the run by a winding 
drum operated by any reversible power, usually a 
steam engine or electric motor, although the driver 
can be operated from a jack shaft shifting the belt 
automatically at each end of the run. This type is 
generally used where the length of run is short and 
the quantity of material to be handled is small, say 
30 tons per hour. 

Cars are usually from 1 to 3 tons in capacity, 
although larger cars can be used where necessary. 
Sometimes two cars are fastened to the rope, one 
car going out, the other coming back at the same 
time, passing each other in the center of the run 
on a double turnout switch. In this case, the haul¬ 
ing rope is usually supported by idlers on either 
side of the main timbers which carry the rails. 
This arrangement adds about 75 per cent to the 
capacity of the one car rig. Where one car is used, 
the hauling rope can be carried either at one side 
or in the center of track and return on idlers also 
at the side of the track. 

Such rigs are used where an apparatus low in 
first cost is advisable, and side supporting idlers 
are more frequently employed because pulleys for 
carrying the rope around curves and on the straight 


NARROW GAUGE AND CABLE RAILWAYS 105 

track can be installed more cheaply. The cars have 
inclined bottoms, are dumped automatically at a pre¬ 
determined place on the track by adjustable dump¬ 
ing blocks, and discharge their load on both sides 
of the track simultaneously. The tracks are usually 
elevated, necessarily so where ground storage is re¬ 
quired or the run is over bins or pockets in storage 
buildings. 

The speed at which these railways are run, usually 
less than 500 feet per minute, depends on conditions. 
It is wise when considering a new installation to 
use a low speed in figuring capacities, say 300 feet 
per minute. This allows for delays, and permits 
speeding up for rush periods. The small cars, one 
or two tons in capacity, usually have four wheels; 
the large cars, three to five tons in capacity, have 
eight wheels and are preferable where curves are 
necessary. Where the shuttle cable railway is used, 
a take-up on both the approaching and the receding 
sides of the rope is advisable, but on the continuous 
type one take-up is sufficient and is preferably lo¬ 
cated at the driving point. 

Continuous Cable Railways. —In this type, the 
cable runs continuously and comparatively slowly, 
usually about 200 feet per minute, and the cars are 
gripped and ungripped from the running rope at 
the loading point. At the loading point there are 
usually two ropes (parts of the same continuous 
running rope, moving in the same direction), one 
bringing in the loaded cars and leading over the 
take-up to the driving drum, and the other running 


106 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


out over the line of the railway. When the car is 
loaded and is gripped to the outgoing rope, it makes 
a complete circuit of the track, automatically dump¬ 
ing its load at any predetermined point, and returning 
to the loading point, where it is ungripped, loaded, 
and is ready for another trip. 

Capacity required is secured by the number of 
cars in use, and is limited by the number of cars 
that can be loaded per hour at the loading point. 
Sometimes several loading hoppers are combined to 
facilitate loading, thus securing greater capacity, up 
to several hundred tons per hour. Grades are not 
favorable; but 7% P er cen f grades can be used with 
reasonable safety if two things are guarded against, 
first, the possibility of a car not being properly 
gripped and running back, and second, the lifting 
effect of the rope at the change of grade, which 
tends to derail the car. The cars are usually from 
2% to 3 tons in capacity, and the track gauge 
twenty-four inch or under. Driving mechanisms are of 
two principal types: a single drum on which the 
rope makes several turns and fleets (slides) down 
the V-shaped drum groove, and the tandem drum 
which consists of two grooved drums on which the 
rope passes by several turns from one to the other. 

The rope is continuous—that is, endless. Just 
before passing to the drum mechanism the rope 
passes over a take-up to allow for play and to avoid 
shocks, etc. Continuous cable railways are usually 
driven by a rope carried between the rails of each 
track on suitable horizontal idlers, for straight track, 


NARROW GAUGE AND CABLE RAILWAYS 107 


and on vertical pulleys on the curved sections of 
track. The horizontal idlers must be carefully bal¬ 
anced and run easily or the rope will cut into them, 
wearing out both rope and idlers. 

Selection of Type. —Where the routes are long 
or circuitous, the continuous cable railway is pre¬ 
ferable. Its capacity is limited only by the facilities 
for loading the cars. The operator fills the cars 
from an overhead hopper, fastens them to the run¬ 
ning cable as they are filled, and the car without 
attendant makes a complete circuit of the track 
dumping its load enroute, is ungripped when it 
reaches the loading point, and is ready to repeat the 
operation. Any capacity up to several hundred tons 
per hour can be secured by means of a sufficient 
number of cars" and proper loading facilities for 
prompt dispatch at the loading point. 

Cable railways are indicated where an automatic 
railway will not do the work. The system may com¬ 
pare favorably as to operative cost with the electric 
motor car where a motorman is required. As either 
an electric third-rail or trolley system can be used 
where grades do net necessitate the cable, the choice 
will largely depend on local conditions rather than on 
the type of apparatus itself, and these conditions 
should be carefully analyzed before deciding upon 
the use of either type. 

Until the introduction of the electric motor driven 
car of the same body type, cable railways were 
about the only way to get material around com¬ 
plicated runs or over long ones. 


108 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Overhead Rope Cable Railways. —It sometimes 
happens that a large amount of movement of narrow- 
gauge cars is necessary on runs which are generally 
horizontal, with the cars moved by hand, but at 
one or more points in this system a steep short 
grade must be negotiated. This grade is frequently 
beyond the capacity of the locomotives or of hand 
operation. A device low in first cost but satisfac¬ 
tory in use has been developed for these conditions. 
It partakes of the nature of a cable railway, in that 
the rope is arranged to move continuously up-grade 
over the center of the track. The narrow gauge 
cars are fitted with grips which will grip the rope 
by automatic or by hand attachment. The car is 
hauled to the higher level by this means, and an¬ 
other locomotive or crew of men can move it up on 
the next level grade. 

The equipment for such an arrangement consists 
of a drum, driven by steam or electric engine, to 
operate the constantly moving rope. This, with 
the necessary leading sheaves and the grips on the 
top of the car, is all that is needed. It is therefore 
a device low in first cost, cheap in maintenance, and 
in many cases may prove a distinct economy. 


CHAPTER XI 


INDUSTRIAL LOCOMOTIVES 

Locomotives. —The growth of manufacturing estab¬ 
lishments to a large size covering many acres and 
with numerous manufacturing buildings has increased 
the opportunity for the use of motive power in 
hauling the material throughout the establishment. 
Where there are long distances and heavy loads, 
the use of power is a distinct economy. In the 
handling of material by railway cars, it is a decided 
advantage to use locomotives wherever possible. 
Several types are available for this purpose. 

Steam Locomotives. —Steam locomotives are too 
well known to require any description. Their most 
frequent use in manufacturing plants is in the plac¬ 
ing of cars at the various loading and unloading 
points. In most factories this work is done by the 
railroad company and a separate locomotive for 
individual use is not in general necessary. There 
are cases however, particularly in large plants, 
where a company-owned and operated locomotive 
will be an economy; and wherever a large amount 
of switching is to be done, and the switching bills 
from the railroad amount to a considerable item, it 
will be well to consider and analyze the economy 
resulting from the ownership of a steam locomotive. 

109 


110 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Moreover, it is sometimes found that a plant loco¬ 
motive, while not directly reducing the cost of plac¬ 
ing and removing cars, will expedite and make more 
convenient the necessary interplant movements, and 
thereby secure an increased production or conveni¬ 
ence which will justify its installation. 

Steam locomotives can be purchased not only for 
the standard gauge track of 4 feet Sy 2 inches, but 
also for narrow gauge tracks. Although I have seen 
them operate on tracks as narrow as 18 inches, I 
do not believe, however, that when a steam locomo¬ 
tive is needed a track gauge of less than 30 inches 
will prove satisfactory for transporting material 
in this manner, and I believe further that a 36-inch 
gauge track is even preferable. 

Electric Locomotives, —Electric locomotives may 
be used for the same purpose as the steam locomo¬ 
tives in handling cars about a manufacturing plant. 
They are usually and preferably operated with an 
overhead trolley, as a third-rail system in a factory 
yard, where workmen must of necessity frequently 
cross the tracks, is dangerous. These locomotives, 
of course, cannot run out upon the main tracks of 
the railroad company, and this feature may be a 
disadvantage in some instances. But on the other 
hand in some communities the municipal regulations 
as to the qualifications and number of men required 
to operate a steam locomotive may not obtain in 
the use of an electric locomotive, and a smaller crew 
and one less difficult to obtain may offset the ad¬ 
vantages of steam. Such considerations should be 



TTrrmmrr 


The lower of these two storage battery locomotives, produced by the 
C. W. Hunt Co., is rigged for either storage battery or trolley opera¬ 
tion. Ill 














112 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


weighed when considering the type of motive power 
for a manufacturing plant. 

Electric locomotives are made for all gauges of 
track and can be purchased in various sizes and 
weights. They are usually equipped with series- 
wound motors suspended below the car top, and 
the speeds used in running about the plant are not 
apt to exceed 10 to 12 miles per hour. The plat¬ 
form of this locomotive may or may not be arranged 
to carry loads: at times it may be quite advantageous 
when such provision is made. 

To reach portions of the plant where it may be 
impracticable to run the overhead wires, the loco¬ 
motive platform sometimes carries a reel with a long 
length of electric wire. By attaching this wire to 
the trolley line the locomotive can be used on sidings 
and in places where there is no overhead wire, the 
reel playing off the wire as the locomotive runs out, 
and rewinding it as the locomotive runs in. This 
little feature may sometimes be of great service and 
should be remembered. 

As one of the frequent uses of the narrow gauge 
trolley locomotive has been for use in connection 
with mining operations, they have been designed, 
many of them, to be exceedingly compact, and to 
go through restricted openings. This construction, 
while necessary to meet the conditions for which 
they were designed, is not a necessity in a manu¬ 
facturing plant, nor is it an advantage. In selecting 
a locomotive for use in the open and where space 
is available it is well to give preference to the types 


INDUSTRIAL LOCOMOTIVES 


113 



An electric industrial car with overhead trolley. (Mead-Morrison 

Mfg. Co.) 

of construction which will permit easy access to 
the working parts of the mechanism. 

Storage Battery Locomotives. —The general re¬ 
marks regarding the utility of steam and electric 
trolley locomotives applies equally to the storage 
battery locomotive. Locomotives of this type for 
standard gauge have been made, but they have been 
found, when equipped with batteries of sufficient 
size to give them satisfactory hauling power and 
radius of action, to be very high in first cost. In 
my opinion, it is the exceptional situation that will 
dictate the use of a broad-gauge storage-battery loco¬ 
motive for manufacturing establishments. 

* 

But there is a distinct difference, however, be- 









114 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: A four-wheel trolley locomotive for narrow gauge track 
hauling cars in the top of a building. Note the compact construction 
of the locomotive to economize space—and the simplicity of con¬ 
struction of the rigid wheel base steel cars. Also note the safety 
guard rail on the inside of the curve. (Jeffrey Mfg. Co.) 

Below: A four-wheel storage battery locomotive hauling loaded cars 
on a narrow gauge track. The batteries are carried on the locomo¬ 
tive platform and the motors and gearing are carried below the plat¬ 
form. This design has been made to economize space. 

(Jeffrey Mfg. Co.) 

tween the utility of the broad-gauge storage locomo¬ 
tive and that of the narrow gauge. In the latter 
case, it has a much larger field of usefulness and a 
much greater opportunity for producing economy. 











INDUSTRIAL LOCOMOTIVES 


115 


Storage battery locomotives for use on gauges of 18 
to 36 inches are very serviceable tools. They are al¬ 
most always used for hauling trailers and not for 
carrying loads themselves. The storage battery and 
the mechanism which operates the locomotive take 
up about all the deck space available, and when con¬ 
sidering the use of this type, it is well to bear this 

fact in mind. 

« 

Usual sizes of this type of locomotive are from 
three to six tons in weight, although heavier loco¬ 
motives with greater tractive effort may be secured 
where needed. The speed at which they run varies 
with the load hauled, and one should not expect 
to obtain speeds over three to six miles per hour 
in ordinary use. Their radius of operation is 
limited by the capacity of the battery, and they are 
best suited for hauling loads for short distances 
around plants rather than for the transportation 
of material between plants any great distance apart. 
They are, by the storage battery peculiarities, ma¬ 
chines of a short radius of action. Where long runs 
are required, a combination storage battery locomo¬ 
tive with auxiliary trollev to take the current from an 
overhead wire can be used. In use they are con¬ 
venient, dependable machines; and when not over¬ 
loaded and the batteries are properly cared for, they 
are an efficient and economical device. 

Various types of construction and various loca¬ 
tions for the batteries and motors are found, depend¬ 
ing upon the ideas of the designer and manufacturer. 
One of the common small locomotives has the bat- 


116 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Compressed air locomotives are built for various gauges and the 
cut shows one with an auxiliary storage tank for compressed air 
carried on a trailer, which, of course, increases the radius of 

effective operation of the machine. 

teries mounted on tlie platform of tlie car and the 
motors mounted below and geared to the axles. In 
another well known type the batteries and motors 
are both above the platform, the wheels being driven 
by chain gearing. 

In using the storage battery locomotive it is well 
to make provision for a maximum load that will 
not put an excessive draught upon the storage bat¬ 
teries. The designers of the storage battery loco¬ 
motives have usually endeavored by limiting the 
tractive effort of the machine, and by using series- 
wound motors that slow down under heavy loads, 
to avoid this danger; but it is quite possible for 
the operator by constantly overloading the ma¬ 
chine to reduce the economy of its operation. 
This is particularly apt to happen when the storage 
battery locomotive has a platform, and itself carries 
loads as well as hauls trailers, for the reason that 
the increased weight on the driving wheels gives it 
an increased tractive effort which makes it possible 
to overload the battery. 









INDUSTRIAL LOCOMOTIVES 


117 



Compressed air locomotive with storage tank for the compressed 

air carried over the traction wheels. 


Compressed Air Locomotives. —Compressed air 
locomotives, as tlie name indicates, are operated by 
compressed air which is carried at very high pres¬ 
sure in tanks on the locomotive. Sometimes the lo¬ 
comotive is equipped with reheating apparatus to 
heat the air before it is used and thereby increase 
the pressure. They are built for standard as well 
as for narrow gauge tracks. These machines have 
a distinct, but to the writer’s point of view, a 
limited held of usefulness in the ordinary, manufac¬ 
turing establishment. But they do perform a dis¬ 
tinctly valuable and economical service, however, 
where hre risk prevents the use of the steam loco¬ 
motive, or where none of the electric types are 
applicable. 













118 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Explosion Engine Locomotives. —While locomotives 
that use gasolene and crude oil in explosion engines 
to provide their motive power are built for standard 
gauge as well as for narrow gauge tracks, the former 
are of infrequent use in manufacturing establish¬ 
ments; the narrow gauge types are more frequently 
met with and have a distinct field of service. In my 
opinion, this field of service is largely outside of 
the buildings proper, although they can sometimes 
be used with advantage in the buildings themselves. 
From my experience I would consider their use and 
study their economy in cases where bulk material 
like clay is to be brought into the works from a 
clay pit at some distance from the manufacturing 
buildings, and on work of a similar nature. I would 
further consider them in outside workings, such as 
in quarries, and particularly in places where there 
would be a frequent need for tracks to be shifted, 
as on plantation, construction work, and the like. 
This type of locomotive can be purchased for any 
of the narrow gauges. The common sizes weigh 
from three to six tons; heavier ones, of course, can 
be secured if the occasion warrants their use. By 
proper provision for large enough engines, high 
speeds for factory work of 12 to 15 miles an hour 
may be secured. The question of the speed at 
which the locomotive runs, is frequently of little 
importance as a factor of economy, and begins to 
be of real importance only where the transporting- 
distances are long, 


CHAPTER XII 


MOTOR TRUCKS, STORAGE BATTERY TRUCKS, 
AND ELECTRIC MOTOR CARS 

Motor Trucks. —Automobile trucks have been de¬ 
veloped to a high state of efficiency for industrial 
purposes. They have the advantage of being rapid 
in motion, will travel on any ordinary road, will go 
anywhere about the works, and will haul trailers 
with almost any weight of load, and in addition 
will carry loads of five or six tons on tlieir own 
bodies. 

The two types in frequent use about manufactur¬ 
ing establishments are the electric storage-battery 
trucks and the gasolene motor truck. It is difficult 
to generalize as to the comparative advantages of 
these types, for so much depends upon the work to 
be done and the conditions under which it must be 
done that each case is a separate problem. The 
electric storage battery truck appeals to one for its 
simplicity; the gasolene motor truck for its large 
reserve of power, its greater radius of action, the 
ease of securing fuel at any point in its route, the 
possible higher speed and greater ability as a trac¬ 
tor. 

The use of power vehicles is indicated whenever 
there is a large amount of material that must be 
trucked within the manufacturing plant, when the 

110 


120 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



In the uppGi illustration a motor truck is handling long sections of 
structural steel, showing the adaptability of the open front truck 
to long loads. (Packard Motor Car Company.) 

The lower view shows an electric storage battery truck used for 
yard work at the Bethlehem Steel Company. The cylinder weighs 
9400 pounds. (General Vehicle Company) 

























MOTOR TRUCKS 


121 



Above: Motor truck with dumping body, especially useful when 
used as shown in the illustration or for dumping into a hopper. The 
body is tilted by means of a rack and pinion located just back of 

the driving seat. (Locomobile Co.) 

Below: Motor truck especially arranged for handling a two-wheel 
trailer. The front end of the trailer is mounted on a king-pin con¬ 
nection over the rear axle of the truck. The trailer has ordinary 
steel-tired wheels. (Watson Wagon Company) 















122 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


work is beyond the capacity of storage-battery indus¬ 
trial trucks, and wherever there is a large amount of 
delivery from the works to outside points, such as 
railroad depot, or branch factories. They have been 
largely used for a long period by department stores 
as well as by small merchants; but here the problem 
is somewhat different from that met in the factory, 
because the distances and number of stops are proba¬ 
bly greater and the loads very much lighter. For 
some years there lias been a growing use of power 
vehicles among manufacturers for delivering cer¬ 
tain of their products, such as machinery used in 
new buildings, directly from their factory to the 
site and as interurban freight carriers. This is 
similar to the delivery of material from factory to 
railroad depot and in many cases power vehicles 
can be used for this purpose to advantage. This 
use was extended very largely during the Great 
War, and it was not at all uncommon for deliveries 
of material to be made over all distances up to five 
hundred miles, owing to the congestion of freight 
on railroad lines. A large number of the trucks 
purchased by the United States Government not 
only propelled themselves from the fabricating plant 
to the seaboard but carried loads as well. 

It is suggested when considering the use of power 
vehicles within the factory and without the fac¬ 
tory, wherever possible to study the use of trailers 
very carefully. Not only can the bulk or weight 
of material moved on one trip be increased, but 
also much more economical utilization by the trucks 


MOTOR TRUCKS 


123 



Above: Motor truck fitted with overhead trolley and chain hoist 
to facilitate handling heavy loads. (International Motor Corp.) 

Below: Motor truck fitted with a capstan for hauling heavy articles 
to and from the truck without lifting. (Packard Motor Car Co.) 















124 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Motor trucks and trailers are particularly well suited for handling 
bulky loads. The illustration gives a good idea of what can be ac¬ 
complished. The four-wheel trailer can be loaded and unloaded 
while the truck itself is used for other work—a very important 
consideration in keeping the motor truck at work. Note the two- 
wheel trailer as well as the four-wheel trailer. 


of the motive effort is made possible than where 
the load is entirely carried upon the truck. 

There are many manufacturers and many types 
of trucks, both storage battery and electric, from 
which to choose. The speeds available vary from 
fast, 18 miles per hour or more, down to 12 or 8 
miles per hour for the heavy trucks; and the loads 
run from one to ten tons. For handling bulk ma¬ 
terial special bodies are constructed to enable the 
material to be dumped quickly. To facilitate the 
handling of package material, crates or detachable 
bodies may be employed, the whole crate or body 
being loaded on to and from the truck as a single 
package. This method makes it unnecessary for 
the expensive motor vehicle to stand idle a con¬ 
siderable part of the time while loading or unloading. 









MOTOR TRUCKS 


125 


Industrial Storage Battery Trucks. —These trucks 
are comparatively newcomers into the field of fac¬ 
tory transportation. In my opinion they are of very 
great value and with great possibilities as efficient 
and economical material movers. In their funda¬ 
mental operation they are similar to the storage 
battery locomotive, except that they run anywhere 
where there is a fairly decent surface. Because of 
this peculiarity—running anywhere about the yard, 
street, or factory—they have a flexibility surpassing 
that of any device except the wlieel-barrows, hand- 
trucks, or transveyors. Their use is indicated wliere- 
ever there is any large amount of package or parcel 
material to be moved to miscellaneous parts of a 
factory. Frequently they are geared so as to secure 
a speed of 10 miles per hour, although I think this 
is a dangerous speed in manufacturing buildings 
where workmen are apt to be in the aisles through 
which the machines move, and it is probable that a 
slower speed, say from three to six miles per hour, 
would be as fast as the manager would care to 
have the trucks operated. Of course, higher speed 
could be utilized to advantage outside of the works 
and for the longer hauls. 

Experience in the use of this type so far indicates 
that two or two and a half tons is the maximum load 
that an industrial truck will handle satisfactorily. 
Where heavier loads than this must be frequently 
moved, trailers should be used either with this type 
or with the tractor type described below. 

The same caution as that suggested to prevent 




126 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



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MOTOR TRUCKS 


127 







Above: Elwell-Parker electric storage battery truck running in 
close quarters between assembly benches. 

Below: A three-wheel traction storage battery truck hauling a trailer 
in close quarters. (Mercury Mfg. Co.) 























128 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


overloading of storage battery locomotives is here 
repeated, with the additional thought that, as the 
industrial trucks are usually equipped with rubber 
tires, their tractive effort is exceedingly high and 
they will be more easily overloaded than will a 
locomotive which has smooth steel tires and runs on 
smooth steel rails. 

The conditions under which these trucks are used 
have caused the designers to develop two main types, 
the one carrying its own load on the platform, and 
the other which is purely the tractor and whose 
sole function is to haul cars behind it. Some of 
the former type are also arranged not only for carry¬ 
ing loads on their own platforms but also for haul¬ 
ing tractors as well. 

The first type, that which carries a load on its 
own platform, is constructed with four rubber-tired 
wheels and is conveniently steered by a man stand¬ 
ing on a platform at either end of the car. The 
platforms are a few inches above the floor, and are 
usually so arranged that the operator by stepping 
off the platform not only automatically applies a 
brake that prevents the movement of the device, but 
also breaks the electric connection from the storage 
battery to the controller. 

Every ingenuity has been displayed by the de¬ 
signers of these trucks to build them so that they 
will turn about in the shortest possible radius, and 
various methods have been adopted to secure this 
result. In some of the trucks all four wheels are 
mounted on swivels, all of which are turned in steer- 


MOTOR TRUCKS 


129 


ing. Others depend upon the movement of the two 
forward wheels for this result. 

Some trucks are built with a perfectly flat plat¬ 
form, the batteries and motors both being suspended 
below and from this platform. Another type, parti¬ 
cularly useful in handling baggage or similar pack¬ 
ages, has a drop frame, the platform being between 
the wheels and dropped down to a few inches from 
the floor, making it particularly convenient to load 
this portion of the trucks. The platform is higher at 
the ends, and the storage batteries and motors are sus¬ 
pended from these points; the top, being floored over, 
furnishes an additional platform space for freight. 

Where it is necessary to handle material, both on 
the truck itself and on trailers hauled by the truck, 
the types above described will be found most useful. 
But where the work can be arranged for movement 
on trailers exclusively, the tractor type of storage 
truck will be found more suitable. In this type the 
storage batteries are located on the platform, and the 
device is really a storage-battery locomotive whose 
sole purpose is to haul cars, with the difference that 
no track is required. There are two general types 
of this tractor on the market, those having four 
wheels, and those having three wheels. As far as 
turning is concerned, the advantage is slightly in 
favor of the three-wheel construction, for this type 
permits a movement around a curve of shorter radius 
than the four-wheel construction. 

Trailers. —Trailers for use in connection with the 
industrial trucks are usually four-wheeled, flat-tired 


130 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Electric storage battery trucks and trailers. Several methods of 
utilizing the trucks to the best advantage; that is, by employing 
trailers and hauling a train of vehicles. These cuts show how sev¬ 
eral plants have taken advantage of this economy. 









































MOTOR TRUCKS 


131 


cars with various methods of axle supports. An im¬ 
portant matter in hauling tractors is to have the 
loaded cars follow the same path as the tractor, and 
when purchasing an outfit of this type care should 
be exercised that the tractor connections to the cars, 
and between the cars themselves, be such as to main¬ 
tain this condition. It is particularly important that 
this be secured if long material such as lumber or 
pipe, is to be hauled, or where several cars are to be 
hauled at one time, or where the train must be hauled 
through aisles or narrow passages, or around short 
corners. 

Trucks with Elevating Platforms. —This type of 
industrial truck is similar in its driving mechanism to 
the tractor trucks, but it has a low platform, usually 
about 11 inches high, which is so constructed as to 
be lifted a short distance from its low position and 
to remain locked in the high position. This construc¬ 
tion enables the truck to handle skids which are piled 
with the various freight to be moved. In this way 
the loading and unloading of the truck is avoided, 
which, as has been said in the earlier portion of this 
book, is one of the largest items of expense in han¬ 
dling material. Of course, the platform of the truck 
can also be used for handling miscellaneous freight, 
as with other trucks; but the great advantage is the 
saving of labor that is made by not having to load 
and reload at the terminals. 

General Notes about Trucks. —Several types of 
truck bodies are described and illustrated in these 
pages. The platform portions of these trucks may 


132 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Electric storage battery trucks arranged to discharge their loads of bulk material automatically. 
Note that the owner of the truck in the upper left picture was not satisfied with the load the 
truck was designed to carry and put up side and end boards. With rubber tired wheels it is 
easy to overload the batteries, particularly where there are grades. It is wise, therefore, to see 
to it that the batteries are not called upon to do more than their safe discharge capacity. 
































MOTOR TRUCKS 


133 


be and are modified for handling various special ma¬ 
terial. Sometimes the trucks are fitted with special 
bodies to carry bulk material. Among these are end 
or side dumping bodies mounted on the truck itself, 
or attached by special wooden or steel out-riggers on 
the sides and ends. The reader should guard against 
selecting a special type of body for his work prema¬ 
turely, for usually he will find that one of the stand¬ 
ard bodies will answer his purpose. 

Almost all of the trucks have the body kept within 
three feet of height, an average of 32 to 34 inches 
being uusal. Where drop-bottom trucks are used, the 
low portion of the truck may be brought down about 
11 inches off the floor; and where trucks with lifting 
platforms for use with skids are selected, the lowest 
position of the platform will probably be about 11 
inches. 

The radius of turning of these trucks depends upon 
the wheel base and upon the construction of the steer¬ 
ing apparatus. It varies from a radius of about 16 
feet for the drop-bottom trucks of longer wheel base 
and with an over-all length of truck of 12 feet, to 6 
or 8 feet for the very short trucks. The radius drops 
down to 5 feet for the four-wheel tractors, and in 
special cases slightly less for the three-wheel tractors. * 

The reader is cautioned to consider the question 
of the radius of the curves about which the trucks 
will turn, and this is particularly important in shop 
work where the trucks and their trailers must pass 
through the aisles between the various machines, 
Where truck and trailer must pass through shop 


134 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Electric storage battery trucks with lifting platforms arranged to handle skids and thus avoid 
rehandling. These illustrations show the trucks, the skids, method of picking up the skids, and 

their application to handling a variety of products. 

































MOTOR TRUCKS 


135 


aisles, ishe is further cautioned to provide that the 
trailers will track, that is, follow the same curve as 
the tractor. It may he advisable, furthermore, that 
the trucks be able to enter a box car from the plat¬ 
form, not only at right angles to the length of the 
car, but also to be able to turn through the door and 
go to one end of the car. 

Storage Battery Truck with Electric Crane. —One 

of the devices that may prove of service in the shop 
is a storage battery truck equipped with a small elec¬ 
tric crane. These are made either for lifting loads on 
to the low platform of the truck itself, or in larger 
size for lifting loads from the floor to another vehicle. 
Where a quickly portable power crane of limited 
reach and lift for comparatively small loads is re¬ 
quired this style may fill this need. 

Electric Motor Cars. —Electric motor cars are very 
flexible in use; they will go anywhere on the track 
where the trolley current can be carried, and com¬ 
pared with cable railways they are high-speed ma¬ 
chines. Of course, they are like a locomotive in that 
they require an operator to be on the running board. 
Their use is indicated where there are a large number 
of points of delivery of material and where these 
points are reached by branches from the main line. 
As they run at high speed, fewer cars are required 
to handle a given hourly capacity, and, notwithstand¬ 
ing the fact that an operator must accompany each 
motor car, they will ofttimes be found to be more 
economical than a cable railway. 

Electric motor cars are generally used with a deep 




136 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Electric motor transfer car arranged ,for dumping on one side of 
the track only. (C. W. Hunt Co., Inc.) 

body for handling bulk material. They can, of course, 
have a flat top and handle package freight, and both 
types can be used as locomotives to haul trailers 
loaded with either bulk or package material. These 
devices are frequently used on trestles where the ob¬ 
jection to a third rail is not serious. For this reason 
they may be constructed to be operated either through 
a third rail or from a trolley wire, as best suits the 
need of local condition. 

These cars are built for all gauges of tracks, from 
the standard gauge down to the narrowest gauge of 
about 18 inches. They are also built in all the sizes 







MOTOR TRUCKS 


137 


and shapes that this varying gauge and the various 
material to be handled demands, from the forty-ton 
standard-gauge larry down to the two-ton self-dump¬ 
ing coal car for the narrow 21 1 / 4-inch gauge truck. To 
the factory manager the sizes operating on gauges of 
36 inches or less are the ones of most interest. Cars for 
this gauge are made in sizes ranging in capacity from 
2, 3, and 5 to 7V 2 tons. They are equipped with series- 
wound motors and bodies to suit the needs of the situ¬ 
ation, and should be equipped with coupling to haul 
trailers. 

This device is frequently used for work similar to that 
performed by cable railways and by automatic rail¬ 
ways. The local conditions and the complications of 
the track layout make it advisable to compare these 
three forms of device when making a decision as to 
the type required. # 

In considering the use of electric motor cars it is 
well to remember that steep curves and short turns 
are to be avoided, particularly upon trestles. Further¬ 
more, while the cars are equipped with series-wound 
motors, supported below the platform, driving the 
wheels through spur gearing at a nominal speed of 10 


* The principal use of electric motor cars is where an operator 
accompanies the car. There is no reason why the motion of the car 
could not be controlled from a central controlling station with suit¬ 
able wiring arrangements. This method of distant control may in 
some cases be worth considering. The writer believes that this can 
be accomplished if it will prove a real advantage, but the probable 
needs for its use are very rare. The cases where it should be used 
are so infrequent and their requirements so special, that it would 
require special study and careful investigation of the situation before 
adopting such means. If after such study it seems advisable, a 
thorough understanding with the manufacturers should be secured 
before selecting this type. 



138 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


miles or thereabouts an hour, the speed at which they 
will be operated on grades and around curves is 
largely dependent upon the judgment of the operator, 
who may take a curve at a dangerous speed, or who 
may let his machine coast down grade and take 
chances of accident. The writer believes that guard 
rails on curves and on or near grades should be in¬ 
stalled as safety provision against reckless operators. 
This is particularly essential on trestles where derail¬ 
ment would mean destruction of the machine and the 
possibilities of serious injury to the operator. Finally, 
the brakes should be powerful and conveniently and 
easily operated. 


CHAPTER XIII 


HAND TRUCKS 

Two-Wheel Trucks. —Next to the common wheel¬ 
barrow, probably the most economical and useful de¬ 
vice for moving material in a manufacturing estab¬ 
lishment is the hand truck. Of the various types, the 
most familiar is the two-wheel truck, with its small 
wheels close to the loaded end and curved handles at 
the other end. Practically the only labor involved 
after the truck is loaded is in tilting the truck so that 
the load is balanced over the wheels; when the bal¬ 
ance is secured, the truckman need only maintain the 
balance and trundle the truck to the position required. 
With an unwieldv load, so that the workman mav 
use his entire energy for tipping the truck, a device 
is sometimes attached to the upper end which hooks 
over the top of the load and holds it more or less 
securely in place. 

These trucks are extremely useful. They will 
handle a great variety of material, but of course their 
greatest economy lies in short distances without 
grades and with no very heavy loads. When only 
small quantities of material are to be handled, their 
use makes unnecessary the loading and unloading of 
a power truck or even the less costly four-wheel 
truck. 


139 


140 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



A modification of the two-wheel hand truck. The workman is shown 
picking up three good sized boxes with the 
McKinney one-man truck. 


Multiple-Wheel Trucks. —Trucks built in all shapes, 

sizes, and heights imaginable have been, until re¬ 
cently, utilized rather extensively for handling loads 
of various descriptions. Usually they have been run 
on four wheels, but three, five, and even six wheels 
have been utilized for special purposes. The devel¬ 
opment of the storage-battery truck, however, lias had 
the tendency to standardize the sizes and shapes of all 
trucks which may be used in conjunction with it, and 
now the four-wheel type is generally employed. The 












HAND TRUCKS 


141 



Above: Shop car of the eight-wheel type used for heavy and bulky 
loads in factories—usually moved by power. Below: Shop car, four- 
wheel type, used in factories and usually pushed by man power. 
The cut also shows curves, switches and a cross over in the track 

layout. (C. W. Hunt Co., Inc.) 

trucks may be obtained either with flat tops, with 
boxes, or with crates. Frequently, the crates are de¬ 
tachable and can be removed from the truck body and 
piled one on top of another on the floor. 

Some of the wheels on hand-pushed trucks usually 
are swiveled, so that the trucks may be turned in a 
short radius. Beyond stating that loads for hand- 
propelled trucks should be kept below 4,000 pounds— 
usually they range between 500 and 2,000 pounds— 















142 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



This automatic dumping steel car has a V-shaped bottom and dis¬ 
charges its load on both sides of the track; dumping is secured by a 
block in the center of the track or by hand, using the handle on 
the crank on the front of the car. (C. W. Hunt Co., Inc.) 

it is unnecessary to describe this type of truck 
further. Trucks useful for almost any purpose can 
be readily purchased. 

Transveyors: Hand Trucks with Lifting Platforms. 

—It is now becoming generally appreciated that a 
large proportion of the expense in handling material 
is due to loading and unloading. For this reason the 
transveyor is rapidly increasing in use, since this 
truck slides under and picks up skids already loaded 
and thus obviates the necessity of loading and un¬ 
loading at terminals. 

Many varieties of transveyors are obtainable, but 
they differ chiefly in details. In function they are 
closely similar; that is, they lift a load from the floor, 
carry it on roller-bearing wheels, and deposit it at the 
destination point without being either loaded or un¬ 
loaded by hand. They are usually run on three 






HAND TRUCKS 


143 



Above: Flat bottom steel coal car arranged for end dump, the car 
has four-wheel swivel axles for running around curves of short 
radius. Below: Flat bottom steel coal car arranged to dump on 
either side of the track and having doors in either side which open 
flat, permitting shoveling to boiler furnaces. 

(C. W. Hunt Co., Inc.) 

wheels and are pulled by a handle. Sometimes the 
handle is arranged as a lever; raising the handle, then, 
lowers the platform enough to slide under a skid, and 
depressing it lifts the platform and raises the skid 
from the floor. Various other methods are employed 
for elevating the platform mechanically, but the na¬ 
ture of the mechanisms is not important here. 












144 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Four-wheel cars used for charging cupola. The cars are loaded with the proper charge, arranged 
on sidings ready for use and when needed are pushed onto the transfer car, which takes them 
to the tilting track where the load slides into the cupola. A track is kept free to return 
empties, which saves congestion and rehandling. (Whiting Foundry Equipment Company.) 
























HAND TRUCKS 


145 


Loads for Transveyors. —Experience with these 
trucks up to the present time indicates that maximum 
load of about two tons is the greatest working limit. 
Of course, much heavier loads can and have some¬ 
times been handled to advantage, but it is well to 
keep the loads for these trucks under two tons. Slight 
irregularities in or obstructions on the the floor make 
even this heavy load a little difficult to move, but a 
load of two tons is readily moved on a smooth un¬ 
obstructed floor. 

In operation, the truck is backed under the skids, 
the platform of the truck is then elevated and the 
skid with its platform is lifted from the floor; the 
weight now being all on the roller bearing wheels of 
the truck, is readily hauled to its destination. To dis¬ 
charge the load, the platform is lowered, the skids 
rest on the floor, and the truck is hauled out from 
underneath and is ready for a new load. 

The skids are usually constructed of wood, and are 
in reality simply platforms with longitudinal runners 
sufficiently high to clear the top of the truck when 
the platform of the truck is in its lowest position. A 
very good type of pressed steel skids can be pur¬ 
chased and may be preferable to wood in many cases. 
Those that I have observed seem to make more or less 
noise and this should be remembered when handling 
metal parts. Sometimes the skids are built in the 
forms of boxes or crates. Of course, they can be 
made of any detailed arrangement for carrying spe¬ 
cific parts of machines, and it may be well to con¬ 
sider skids arranged in this way for delivering all of 


146 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Much time and money can be saved by using platforms on which 
the material is stored, thus reducing loading and unloading. Almost 
any material can be handled by transveyors. (Barrett Multi Trucks.) 










HAND TRUCKS 


147 



Above: Loading automobile parts at the Timken Detroit Axle 
Company, from shop platform to trailer by using skids or plat¬ 
forms. By using trailers, no motor truck is kept waiting. 

Below; Handling phonograph records at the Edison Plant, utilizing 

transveyors and platforms. 



































148 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


the parts required for assembling a given machine in 
one unit to the assembly floor. 

Trucks having three wheels can go around very 
short curves, practically turning in their length, and 
transveyors can be pushed backwards or forward as 
the occasion demands. In my opinion they will be 
used more and more frequently as their ability to 
save money is appreciated by managers. To one 
familiar with the trucking of materials on skids and to 
the use of power for operating these elevating trucks, 
it is at once apparent that for long hauls the electric 
storage battery type of truck may be used for the 
same purpose as the hand trucks, that is, each is 
equipped with a lifting platform that runs under the 
skids, lifts and transports them to their destination 
and deposits them on the floor without breaking the 
packages. The question of relative economy between 
the liand-powered hand-operated lifting truck and the 
power-operated lifting truck is very largely one of 
distance and the quantity of material to be moved. 
Selecting the one which will give the greatest return 
requires a thorough knowledge of the amount of work 
to be done and the average length of haul. The rela¬ 
tive first cost and carrying charges of the two devices 
must also be considered, for the power-operated truck 
not only costs more but is more expensive to maintain. 


CHAPTER XIV 


CRANES 

Selection of Type to Meet Requirements. —Cranes 
have become a necessity wherever heavy or bulk ma¬ 
terial has to be lifted or conveyed. They have been 
developed in many forms, with great variation of con¬ 
struction details and to meet almost any hoisting or 
conveying speed. The ease and convenience with 
which the electric current, collected from a trolley 
wire, can be carried to all points, and the freedom in 
locating the point of control has caused electric cranes 
to predominate in manufacturing plants. 

If we will consider a crane to be the combination 
of some structure to support a hoisting and conveying 
device, and look upon its form, structure and the 
hoisting and conveying devices with which it is 
equipped as a matter of detail, we will have gone a 
long way towards the proper frame of mind to enable 
a wise selection for our requirements. The space to 
be served, the material to be handled, and the speed 
of operation required are the things that settle the 
matter. Within reasonable limits any span, any load, 
any speed, any material can be handled by cranes. 
Auxiliary devices can be attached to them, such as, 
chain or rope slings, electric magnets, coal or ore 
buckets, grab buckets, and drag line buckets. They 

149 


150 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


can be equipped with two or more hoisting trolleys 
for heavy loads, and these trolleys may be operated 
by electric motors, controlled by a man in the trolley 
cage or at a distant point, or they may be operated 
by wire ropes driven by a steam or electric engine 
located in the tower. 

Operating Costs Not the Deciding Factor. —The 

crane proposition is largely one of the return on the 
investment. Therefore requirements as to loads, 
speeds, or space needed should not be warped, but a 
crane should be planned that will cover all needs,— 
then its operating costs may be analyzed. 

The great variations in cranes, as evinced by the 
difference between the small shop crane running on 
wheels, hand trundled and fitted with a chain liand- 
hoist for irregular work in a small machine shop, to 
the large locomotive wrecking cranes, will give an 
idea of the variations possible, and the wide range of 
choice. As an exhaustive treatise on cranes would 
require several volumes the size of this, no attempt 
will be made to go into detail. The reader is asked 
to remember that a crane suitable for any work can 
be purchased, the limits of load, span, and speed being 
the items that determine the operating costs, and the 
operating cost being the item that determines the 
wisdom of the installation. 

Briefly, cranes are of two kinds: hand and power 
operated. Cranes of most types can be operated with 
either method, but the large and rapid cranes of any 
type must be power driven. 

Hand Operated Cranes.— Hand operated cranes are 



CRANES 


151 



Portable shop crane (hand operated) placing armature in lathe. 
Note that the crane is on wheels and can be moved to any part of 
the shop. Where a shop does not have overhead cranes and heavy 
pieces must be handled at various points these cranes are very useful. 

(Canton Foundry & Machine Co.) 

usually confined to handling small loads at low speeds, 
although for very occasional lifts, loads up to several 
tons can he handled. (See Chain Hoists, page 333.) 

Hands cranes are used almost entirely *for package 
material, practically never for hulk material. 

Portable Shop Cranes, Hand Operated. —These are 
little goose-neck cranes, mounted on flat wheels, and 
can he trundled anywhere in the shop and used for 
miscellaneous lifting. The actual hoisting may he 
done either hy a hand winch or hy a chain hoist. 
These cranes are also constructed at times to he 














152 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



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crane itself. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 


























CRANES 


153 



Above: Three-motion shop crane equipped with grab bucket for 
handling bulk material and an electric magnet for handling iron 
products (pig iron in this case)—a very useful combination. 

(Niles-Bement-Pond Co.) 

Below: A similar shop crane in a foundry handling a heavy ladle. 
The ladle can be unhooked and the crane used to handle the castings, 
flasks, sand, etc. (Northern Engineeering Works.) 












































154 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


operated by power, in which case they are fitted with 
an electric or pneumatic hoist and may be propelled 
by an electric motor. (See description under Storage 
Battery Electric Trucks, page 135.) 

Cranes such as these are indicated where the work 
is infrequent, where overhead cranes cannot be used 
and where the loads while light are too heavy for men 
to lift, or where the work must be done from time to 
time at various points. 

Travelling Hand Cranes. —The term “travelling 
crane’’ is accepted to mean a three-motion crane, that 
is, one that will hoist a load and carry it horizontally 
in two directions at right angles to each other. Such 
a crane will therefore place a package in any given 
place within the cubic space it commands. In one 
form the trolley or hoisting mechanism, runs on an 
I-beam or a suitable monorail support. 

Travelling Cranes, Hand Operated. —In its simplest 
form, the hand-operated travelling crane consists of 
an I-beam running on tracks at either end, and with a 
trolley running on the I-beam. The simplest hand- 
operated power equipment is a chain hoist for lifting 
the load, a chain with spocket and gearing for mov¬ 
ing the I-beam along its runway, and a trolley pushed 
along the I-beam or propelled thereon by a hand chain 
geared through sprockets to the trolley wheels. A 
winch which operates a wire rope leading over 
sheaves in the trolley can be used in place of the 
chain hoist lifting the load. In this case, the frame¬ 
work of the crane is brought down near the floor level 
for convenience in operating the winch. 


CRANES 


155 


It is easy to see tliat by securing heavy enough I- 
beams, or by duplicating them, and by using hoists 
sufficiently strong, almost any load can he moved on 
these cranes. Their use is particularly indicated 
where the work is too heavy, or the quantity too great 
for men to carry; that is, they are recommended on 
the erecting floors of small factories, and then only 
when electric or other power cranes are not justified 
for economic reasons. 

Hand-operated cranes are sometimes selected in 
place of power cranes for the reason that they are 
lower in first cost; but it should he borne in mind that 
they are slow, both in hoisting and in translating the 
load. Spans for hand-operated cranes are apt to he 
less than 40 feet and the loads under six tons, al¬ 
though such cranes with longer spans and for heavier 
loads are sometimes used. Where loads of five tons 
or more are handled, the double I-beam type is used 
and a four-wheel trolley is mounted to run on the 
upper flanges thereof. About 20 tons is the maximum 
load handled in this manner. 

The next step in greater convenience and in higher 
first cost is the hand-operated travelling crane 
equipped with pneumatic or electric hoists. This 
construction reduces the manual work of operating 
the crane simply to the work of moving the trolley 
along the crane and the crane along its runway, which 
is usually done by hand chains. These cranes are 
usually operated from the floor, both as regards move¬ 
ment of the crane on its runways and the trolley along 
the crane. 


i56 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



A large shop crane assembled on the erecting floor. This illustration shows all the elements 
of the three-motion type of crane. Note that there are two separate trolleys on this crane. 














CRANES 


157 



In long shops, and in wide ones, a combination of the regular three- 
motion shop crane and of special three-motion cantilever cranes are 
sometimes used. (Niles-Bement-Pond Co.) 


vTm 




















158 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



The motor and gearing used to drive shop cranes along the crane 
runway is usually located near the middle of the crane with the 
shaft extending on both sides of the drum wheels. The type illus¬ 
trated shows an enclosed gear construction. 


Travelling- Cranes, Power Operated. —These cranes 
are similar in their general structural features to 
those just described except that they are usually very 
much heavier in construction and are arranged for 
higher speeds both of hoisting, trolleying, and mov¬ 
ing the crane along its runway. Electricity is the 
power universally used, with one motor for each of the 
operations; that is, one motor, through proper gear¬ 
ing and drums, hoists the load whether it be a pack¬ 
age, a grab bucket, or an electric magnet; another 
motor, through its gearing, drives the wheels of the 
trolley supporting the load. These two motors are 
mounted upon the trolley. The third motor, through 
its gearing, drives the wheels of the girder and trans¬ 
lates the whole crane along the crane runway. This 
motor is usually mounted near the middle of the 
horizontal truss, with the shaft, which extends in 
either direction, engaging with spur gears at both 








CRANES 


159 


ends and driving one or more wheels on each of the 
trucks. 

It will he readily seen that by selecting motors of 
suitable size, any speed of hoisting or translating can 
be secured. These cranes, except such cases where 
electric magnets are to be used, can be purchased to 
operate with either direct or alternating current. 
They are frequently employed in large factories and 
are practically a necessity in such places as the stor¬ 
age yards, the shipping platforms and the erecting 
floors, and for commanding the shop area of large ma¬ 
chine shops. They are also used in large power 
houses to handle the engines and dynamos. Their 
use is indicated in all of these places, and where from 
the nature of the work itself they are not an absolute 
necessity, the volume of work to be done will fre¬ 
quently make their use a distinct economy. While 
mention has been made above of the use of the grab 
buckets with this type of crane, the principal use of 
these cranes is for handling packages and heavy in¬ 
dividual pieces of machinery. 

Speeds and Capacities. —Where very large cranes 
are used it is usual to equip the trolley with an 
auxiliary hoist which runs at a much higher hoisting 
speed than the hoist used for lifting the heavy loads. 
This is for the purpose of making the same crane that 
handles the occasional heavy loads economical when 
handling the lighter loads. As a line on the speeds 
and capacities on these cranes, the table on the fol¬ 
lowing page will serve as an indication of the general 
practice. 


Typical Capacities and Speeds of Electric Traveling Cranes 

for General Service* 


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C -rs A* _ 

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160 


Electric cranes are built for either alternating or direct current, usually 220 volts. 
* From Mark’s Mechanical Engineer’s Handbook. 
























CRANES 


161 



The trolley construction of a heavy duty shop crane. Notice the 
enclosed gearing, the grooved drums and the electric brakes. 


Crane Clearances. —In planning a crane layout it is 
well to know the approximate clearances; these are 
as given in the table on the following page. 

Where the span of a travelling crane is long, there 
is sometimes a tendency for one end of the crane to 
lag behind the other, and this point should be con¬ 
sidered in the selection and installation. One of the 
methods for straightening up the crane is to place 
bumpers at one end of the runway, which will bring 
the two ends of the crane into alignment from time to 
time. 







162 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Approximate Clearances for Electric Traveling 

Cranes* 


Capacity 
in Tons 
of 

2,000 lbs. 

Height of Top of 
Trolley Carriage 
above Crane 
Runway Rails 

Distance from Top 
of Trolley Carriage 
to Center of 
Lifting Hook 

Usual Size of 
Runway T-Rail 
in Pounds 
Per Yard 

5 

5' 

5" 

5' 

3" 

50 

10 

5' 

11" 

6' 

0" 

50 60 

15 

6' 

6" 

7' 

1" 

60—70 

20 

7' 

1" 

8' 

1" 

60—80 

30 

7' 

10" 

8' 

11" 

80 

40 

8' 

7" 

9' 

11" 

80—100 

50 

8' 

7" 

10' 

5" 

100 

60 

10' 

6" 

12' 

11" 

100—150 

75 

11' 

6" 

15' 

0" 

100—150 

100 

13' 

6" 

15' 

6" 

150 

150 

15' 

6" 

18' 

8" 

150 


* From Mark’s Mechanical Engineer’s Handbook. 


Bridge Cranes. —Bridge cranes are a form of trav¬ 
elling crane. In construction and principle of opera¬ 
tion they are similar to the travelling cranes just 
described, with this exception; instead of the crane 
running on elevated tracks the crane structure is built 
with legs at one or at both ends and these legs run on 
rails on the ground level. The object of this con¬ 
struction is to reduce the cost of the installation by 
obviating the necessity for expensive elevated run¬ 
ways. While many of these cranes are equipped with 
a single motor and long line shafting for operating the 
track wheels through bevelled gearing, there is a 














CRANES 


163 



One end of the upper yard crane is carried on rails at the ground 
level while the other is mounted on a structural steel trestle. Note 
the two hoisting trolleys in the crane for convenience in balancing 
the long shapes. The operator controls all motions from the cab on 
the left. (Pawling & Harnischfeger Co.) 

In the lower yard crane both ends are carried on rails at ground 
level. Note the cantilever projection of crane track at each end, 
to the left over the railroad siding tracks and to the right to the 

ship wall. (Niles-Bement-Pond) 

growing tendency to mount motors directly con¬ 
nected to wheels on each of the running trucks. 
Bridge cranes are more or less arbitrarily divided 

























164 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Long span, high trestle, double-trolley yard crane at C., B. & Q. R. R. Shops, Havelock, Neb. This 
crane serves the lower crane running at right angles to the main storage and is in turn served 
by it. Railroad tracks enter the space under the crane from the left. (Niles-Bement-Pond.) 























CRANES 


165 



\T " ^ <39 W&d i 

rV || 



i-'w; 

\ /\8p 


x W? 

Ay-*-.,.* -A Si 

/ \ m 


Grab bucket cantilever gantry crane, in the upper view, unloading 
from railroad cars to storage. The lower view shows a gantry crane 
handling asphalt in buckets. Note the engine for hauling the railroad 
cars, and the locomotive crane. (Cleveland Crane & Engineering Co.) 




























166 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



End of crane, showing man trolley and grab bucket for handling 
ore. The bucket can be rotated about a vertical axis to insure 
securing a full load. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 


into two classes, those known as gantry cranes, which 
are usually of comparative short span, and bridge 
cranes which are similar cranes of comparatively long 
span. Both bridge and gantry cranes are frequently 
built with a cantilever at one or both ends projecting 
beyond the legs which support the crane. Both types 
are usually equipped in such manner that the opera¬ 
tor controls all three motions from his cab. 

While these cranes are quite frequently used for 
handling package material, their greatest use is for 














CRANES 


167 



Above: Large coal storage and reclaiming gantry crane with the 
grab operated by ropes from engines in the enclosed room above 
the runway. Below: Large gantry crane handling ore from cargo 
vessel unloader on the right to storage pile. 

(Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 

the unloading, storing and reclaiming of hulk ma¬ 
terial, particularly coal and ore. Bridge cranes for 
handling bulk material were originally developed for * 
handling coal or ore in buckets. They were operated 


























168 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Bridge cranes unloading vessels to storage piles. The construction of the cantilever 
end of crane and of the cargo vessels is well shown. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 















CRANES 


169 



Grab bucket cranes for unloading from vessels to railroad cars. Known also as the 
man-trolley type. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 


















170 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


by steam engines and the load was hoisted and trans¬ 
lated by means of wire ropes. The next step was to 
use grab buckets on the cranes. This was quickly 
followed by the use of electricity as a motive power, 
and resulted in abandoning the wire rope method of 
translating the load. At present the practice of 
operating these cranes by the three-motor method, as 
described under Travelling Cranes, is well nigh uni¬ 
versal, the operator being either in a house at one 
end of the crane, or in a cage on the trolley. The 
name, “man-trolley,” is frequently used to designate 
a bridge crane operated in this latter method, al¬ 
though some manufacturers use the name “man 
trolleys” as others do “telphers” or “power trolleys.” 

Modified forms of cranes for handling bulk ma¬ 
terial are in use and are described in this work under 
the headings, Mast and Gaff Rigs, Steeple Towers, 
and Tub Rig Elevators. There is a general division 
between these special types of crane and the bridge 
type in that the principal work of the mast and gaff 
rigs, the steeple towers and the tub rig elevators is in 
the hoisting of cargo, their incidental work being to 
translate it short distances. The bridge cranes how¬ 
ever do both, with the distance that the load is moved 
horizontally much longer than it is in the first men¬ 
tioned types. Gantry cranes occupy a position be¬ 
tween the two. 

The use of bridge cranes for unloading, storing and 
reclaiming cargo should be considered in the same 
way as the use of travelling cranes, that is, any speed 
of unloading or any span within reason can be se- 


CRANES 


171 



Electric man trolley bridge cranes and electric transfer car at 
Dominion Iron & Steel Co., Sidney, N. S., Canada. An idea of the 
magnitude of the handling problem is shown by the five cranes, the 
size of the transfer car, and the substantial construction of the 
track supports. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 





















































172 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Large covered crane equipment for ship work. The crane serves both the water berth and the land 
side, which includes the wharf and a railroad siding. (Pawling & Harnischfeger Co.) 
































CRANES 


173 


cured. While long spans up to 500 feet can be built, 
they are rare, and the ordinary spans met with will 
run from 100 to 200 feet in length, the grab buckets 
having a capacity of 2 to 5 tons, although they have 
been used with capacities up to 10 tons. The use of 
bridge cranes is indicated wherever a large area is to 
be served, particularly for unloading, storing and re¬ 
claiming bulk material. For such work, capacities of 
100 to 500 tons per hour can be secured, depending 
upon the length of run, character of material, and the 
size of motors used. Here again it is a question more 
of the first and operating costs than of the engineer¬ 
ing restrictions. Heavier unit loads and higher speeds 
of motion entail heavier and more costly structures, 
motors, and machinery, and a comparison should be 
made between the capacity that is advisable and the 
investment justified. Speeds of hoisting vary from 
100 to 500 feet per minute. The trolley speeds vary 
from 500 to 1500 feet per minute. The bridge speed 
is usually low, from 50 to, say, a maximum in the 
neighborhood of 200 feet per minute. 

Rotary Cranes. —Where cranes are built with a 
boom with one end pivoted so That they may be 
swung about the whole or a part of a circle they are 
known as rotary cranes. One type, known as the 
mast and gaff, is described under that heading. 

The most frequent use of the rotary crane is in the 
handling of bulk material with grab buckets or tubs. 
Where it is used for handling package freight it is 
frequently mounted with stiff legs in such a way that 
it will make a revolution about a complete circle, thus 


174 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



A long man-trolley cantilever lumber handling crane. Trolley travel 120 feet. Both ends extend 
over the pier at the sides and both ends fold up to be out of the way. The end at the left is 
down in position to load or unload vessel while the end at the right is folded up. The trolley 
has two hooks to facilitate handling long timbers. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 















































CRANES 


175 



Large pillar crane for handling heavy material in factory yard. 

Shows to what sizes this type of crane can be installed. 

(Whiting Foundry Equipment Co.) 

utilizing all the storage space around the mast. These 
cranes can be equipped with winches for hand opera¬ 
tion or with steam or electric motors for power opera¬ 
tion. Wire rope is used from the winding drums to 
the load. Sometimes a hook is placed at the hoisting 
end and the crane is known as a single whip or, with 
two or more parts of the wire rope, is known as 
double or triple whip, etc. 

Pillar Cranes. —A pillar crane is similar to the ro¬ 
tary crane just described with the exception that the 
foundation and base are so constructed that the stiff 
leg guys are not required and the overturning effort 
is resisted by a rigid pillar support. This crane is 















176 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Electrically operated shop crane running at one side of the shop with swinging jib rotated 
by power. Such a crane serves the full length of a shop and can be arranged to cover 
practically 360° of arc. (Whiting Foundry & Equipment Co.) 

















CRANES 


177 



Hand operated pillar crane for handling heavy freight, mounted on 
a heavy concrete foundation and capable of making a complete 
revolution on its support. (Industrial Works) 

pivoted so that its boom revolves through 360 degrees. 
It can be operated either by hand or by power. 

Jib Cranes. —Cranes having a horizontal swinging 
boom pivoted to a column or other support are known 

















178 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Pillar cranes are useful where large weights are to be handled oc¬ 
casionally, as in the foundry above. (Niles-Bement-Pond Co.) 
Hand operated pillar cranes, belaw, on both sides of the shop and 
serving practically the whole flor area. (Whiting Foundry Equip¬ 
ment Co.) 















CRANES 


179 


as jib cranes. When they are pivoted to a column, 
they cannot swing through 180 degrees, but when the 
column is a part of the crane and is supported both 
top and bottom, they can swing through the full 360 
degrees. Their most frequent use is in shops where 
there is intermittent need for their service, such as 
over a large boring mill, or in foundries where large 
patterns are to be handled, where they will relieve the 
work of the travelling cranes usually employed. 
These cranes can be equipped with hand, air, or 
hydraulic and hand trolleys, or with electric hoists 
and electrically-operated trolleys, as the case de¬ 
mands. 

Whip Hoists .—One of the common methods of un¬ 
loading package freight from vessels is the type of 
crane in which two wire ropes are connected to one 
hook or sling to be attached to the load. Each of 
these ropes leads to the drum of a winding engine, or 
in some cases to capstans or winches around which the 
rope is given a few turns. One of the ropes leads 
outward over a boom on board the ship, the other in 
board over a pulley mounted on the wharf. By prop¬ 
erly pulling in and playing out these ropes the load 
may be hoisted or moved inboard, or outboard as 
desired. Operators acquire great proficiency in hand¬ 
ling this device and it is one of the most frequently 
seen mechanisms along the water front. Sometimes 
both of the hoists are on board the ships, and sometimes 
both on the wharf. All that is necessary is that one 
lead shall be from outboard and one from inboard of 
the position of the load to be moved, Any ordinary 


180 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



The variety of uses to which cranes and grab buckets can be put is 
well shown by the crane and grab bucket handling bones. Note the 
peculiar construction of the boom which swings about a pivot (com¬ 
pare with locomotive crane which swings around a complete circle) ; 
also observe that the wheels of the crane do not require rails. 

(John F. Byers Machine Co.) 


steam or electric hoisting engine in which the drum 
is operated by friction is suitable for this work. A 
double drum hoisting engine equipped with suitable 
frictions and brakes will control both ropes. Where 
the work is intermittent and the quantities not great, 
its low cost of installation and up-keep frequently 
make it the preferable method. 

Locomotive Cranes. —Locomotive cranes are self- 
propelled cranes which run on standard-gauge rail¬ 
way tracks. They are almost always driven by steam 
and are built with either four or eight wheels. Spe¬ 
cial locomotive cranes are built for wider gauges 
when that is necessary, but by far the larger propor- 






CRANES 


181 



Above: Special grabs bucket locomotive crane fitted with flat wheels 
for use anywhere in the yard. (Osgood Co.). Below: Loading 
material from barge through movable hopper to trucks. (Brown 

Hoisting Machinery Co.) 















182 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Ten-ton locomotive crane unloading miscellaneous cargo from steamer 
at Tampa, Florida. 'Salt hides are shown in the rope sling which, 
being flexible, is very useful for cargo of that type. 

(Brown Hoisting Machinery Coi¬ 


tion in factories are the four-wheel, standard gauge 
machines. They are one of the most flexible and use¬ 
ful devices for the handling of material in large 
plants. When equipped with a grab bucket and an 
electric magnet they will do almost any work, either 
bulk or package handling, or the shifting of railroad 
cars around the plant. 

In the purchase of a locomotive crane when the 
use of a grab bucket is a future possibility, the three- 
drum engine should be selected and the crane, should 













CRANES 


183 


be equipped with steam or other adequate railroad 
brakes. This allows one drum for lifting the boom 
and two drums for operating the grab. It is wise 
also to consider the future use of an electric lifting 
magnet in connection with the crane, and to provide 
for its future installation. One steam engine may be 
arranged to operate all the power devices for moving 
the crane itself and for lifting and swinging the load, 
and such an engine may be readily controlled in all 
its functions by the engineer who may and usually 
does tire his own boiler. Locomotive cranes are com¬ 
monly geared for a maximum speed along the track 
of eight to ten miles per hour, but as they are gen¬ 
erally employed for short-distance runs only, these 
speeds are seldom attained. 

While steam power generated on the crane itself 
by a vertical boiler is the usual form used, it is possi¬ 
ble to replace this power by electric current from a 
trolley wire or third rail, or by explosion engines. At 
times, when an electric magnet is to be used in con¬ 
nection with the steam-operated locomotive crane, a 
small steam engine of the reciprocating or turbine 
type driving a dynamo is mounted on the crane to 
supply the needed direct current, usually 220 volts, 
so as to keep the crane as a self-contained, self-mov¬ 
ing unit which can do any work within its capacity 
anywhere on the track system. 

As a locomotive crane for general service will be 
used in all weather, a cab fairly well or completely 
enclosed is a great advantage. A completely inclosed 
cab, however, is sometimes very hot in summer, 



184 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Wrecking crane (locomotive type) for railroad use. This crane is 
very rugged for 60-ton capacity, and is fitted with two hoisting falls 
for heavy and light work. Note the steel beams (outriggers) which, 
when blocked up as shown, increase the stability. 

(The Browning Co.) 


The cranes will go around fairly short curves, and 
for reaching places where it is not necessary that 
standard gauge railroad cars need he moved, curves 
of 60 feet radius are permissible. One should always 
be sure that the crane purchased will go around the 
curves on the track system. Another point to be 
watched is in the use of the crane for handling bulk 
material when the full load of grab bucket and con¬ 
tents Avill be handled at the long radius of the boom. 
Care must be exercised in this case to select a crane 
that gives enough head room for pile and grab 
bucket, and to have sufficient stability on the tracks 











CRANES 


185 



Above: Locomotive wrecking crane in yard of Erie Railroad Co. 
The hoist for lighter work is lifting the body of the coal car from 
its trucks, the hoist for the heavier work is shown at the end of 

coal car. (The Browning Co.) 

Below: An electrically operated trolley locomotive crane, 
(Whiting Foundry Equipment Co.) 



























186 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

when so loaded. That is, a crane rated as ten ton, 
with four wheels and a boom 31 feet 5 inches long, 
has, when working at 39 foot radius, a lifting capacity 
of 5400 pounds, and the top of the boom is only 11 
feet above the railheads. In other words, such a 
crane should be selected that will be large enough to 
handle the required load at the maximum distance 
and at the same time will have its boom long enough 
to give suitable clearance for the grab bucket and 
pile of material. Where locomotive cranes are used 
on trestles, the height under the boom is not import¬ 
ant; the maximum reach, however, is always im¬ 
portant when reclaiming bulk material, for of course 
the area of the storage pile will be dependent entirely 
upon the distance which the boom will carry its 
bucket or scraper. 

In handling, bulk material with grab buckets, a 
locomotive crane will make a round trip in about one 
minute and will handle 300 or more tons per day, 
depending on local conditions. 

These cranes are apt to be used steadily and for 
many years; the one selected, therefore, should be well 
designed and very substantially built, as one crane is 
frequently enough for an ordinary plant. It should 
always be kept in excellent order, overhauled regu¬ 
larly, and duplicate spare parts of the elements that 
show signs of wear should be kept in the store-room. 
No factory can afford to have a locomotive crane out 
of commission waiting for repair parts. It might 
* easily require a week for such part to be delivered 
from the manufacturer and the cost of a spare part 


CRANES 


187 



Grabs and cranes are sometimes used for unusual purposes. In 
upper view the grab is special, with long prongs on the scoops, and 
is used for handling manure. There are two cranes in the photo¬ 
graph, the one in the foreground operating the closed grab on the 
left and the one in the rear operating the open grab on the right. 
Below, a special grab is handling wood from cars to storage piles. 









188 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


would not compare with the cost involved by the 
delay. 

In most handling problems the use of a locomotive 
crane will be one of the first mechanisms considered, 
and its possible usefulness must be carefully an¬ 
alyzed. In some cases such a crane can be used for 
unloading coal from boats during the period of sum¬ 
mer navigation for making the reserve storage piles, 
and in the winter for reclaiming from these piles and 
doing miscellaneous yard work, and also for handling 
package material, shifting cars, handling scrap, pig 
iron, and so on. 

Construction Features. —While there are many 
makes of locomotive cranes the conditions of their 
use has resulted in a general similarity of design. 
Two types are common: the four-wheel crane, in 
which the four wheels are on spring-mounted axles 
and all four are driving wheels; and the eight-wheel 
type which is used for the heavier lifting work, with 
a very long boom and usually fitted with out-riggers 
which permit shoring up the crane and giving it a 
wider base, thus preventing over-turning. There is 
a limit, of course, to the load and distance which this 
load can be swung without overturning in the four- 
wheel type. Most cranes are fitted with pockets in 
the frame to be filled with pig iron so as to give 
stability. 

The eight-wheel type is similar in its above-deck 
construction to the four-wheel type, except that it is 
heavier and has a larger engine and hoisting equip¬ 
ment. The two four-wheel trucks used in this type 


CRANES 


189 







Above: Locomotive crane in freight yard placing a large tank on 

railroad car. 

Below: Locomotive crane operated by gasoline engine handling large 

castings in a factory yard. 







































190 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: Locomotive crane and electric magnet handling large castings 
from cars to scrap pile. (Industrial Works.) 

Below: Locomotive crane and electric magnet handling car wheels. 













CRANES 


191 



Above: The power of the electric magnet to hold loose miscellaneous 
scrap is well shown. The crane is fitted with a steam engine and 

dynamo for operating the magnet. 

Below: A 43-inch electric magnet and locomotive crane handling 
scrap from car to car and to and from storage. 









192 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



At left: Locomotive crane handling timber. The regularity and method of separating the crane 
load facilitates easy slinging of the load and reduces the cost of handling. At right: Locomo¬ 
tive crane handling cord wood. Note the dumping cradle to handle the wood and compare with 
the adjoining picture, where the unit loads are kept separate for convenience and economy in 

rehandling. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 















CRANES 


193 


are spring-mounted and swivel at their center on the 
car body, the inner axles being the ones that are 
driven, the two end axles not being used as drivers. 
In both the four and eight-wheel types driving is ac¬ 
complished by a vertical shaft in the center of the 
car, which drives through bevel gears to the axles of 
the trucks. In eight-wheel types this drive is flexible 
and permits the trucks to take a radial position on 
curves and switches. 

The whole mechanism above the car top, including 
boiler engine, gearing, boom supports, and the boom 
itself, is mounted on a turntable supported by the car 
top. This turntable has gear teeth on its periphery, 
which engage the teeth of a pinion mounted on a 
vertical shaft driven by the engine. The motion of 
this pinion turns the whole upper part of the crane 
around on a vertical axis. 

Capacities. —The construction of all parts of the 
car and crane is of metal and gives a heavy, sub¬ 
stantial piece of apparatus. Cranes are made capable 
of lifting very heavy loads up to 100 tons or even 
more. These are usually called wrecking cranes, but, 
except that they are purchasable devices, they will 
not ordinarily interest the factory manager who is 
studying factory handling economics. 

A light crane mounted on wheels is built for road 
work. In this type the whole crane does not swing 
around a vertical axis but the boom will work through 
approximately 180 degrees. For the factory manager 
it is more of an emergency device than a regular tool 
for daily use. 


194 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 




Approximate dimensions of eight-wheel locomotive cranes: 30-40- on 
:*rane above, with boom 45 feet long; and 15-20-ton crane be ow, 

with 35-foot boom. 


The Brown Hoisting Machinery Company publish 
the tables as given on the following pages in regard 
to the details of their locomotive cranes, and these 
in connection with the outline of dimensions of the 
cranes, above, will be of value to the works mana¬ 
ger who is contemplating such an installation. 











































































































































Types and Capacities of Locomotive Cranes with One Length of Boom 


H 

W 

W 

U-K 


»—I 

§ 

C/3 

P 

o 

2 

< 

> 

H 

< 

CO 

Q 

2 

P 

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d« 


H 

M 

< 

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o 


<4-1 

• • • 

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rH 


oo 

4-p 

<4H 

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t-H r—H 

35 ft. 

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o o CM CM CM 

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r—H 

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^ 00 CO CM 

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V V V V V 

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4-1 <U 

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* Capacities are given for this length of boom. Other lengths of boom can be furnished, 
t Capacity at 39 ft. radius, 10,000 lbs. 
j At 10 ft. radius the capacity is 10,000 lbs. 


























196 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Clearances with Length of Boom as Given 

in Sketch 

Capacity of Crane.. 

30 to 40 ton 

20 & 15 ton 

10 ton 

3-5 ton 

Radius in Feet.. 
Height of Boom 
in Feet 

Height of Block 
in Feet. 

45 

27 

19 

12 

53 

30 

39 

15 

8 

12 

42 

27 

35 

14 

7 

12 

36 

22 

25 

12} 

8 

12 

27 

19 


Tub Rig Elevators. —These hoisting towers, some¬ 
times called inclined boom elevators, are arranged to 
hoist tubs or buckets, securing the outward and in¬ 
ward motion of the load by a trolley running on a 
boom which has an inclination of about 45 degrees, 
hence their name “tub rig or inclined boom eleva¬ 
tors.” These elevators can be purchased to operate 
with small grab buckets of the clam-shell type; but 
when such a purchase is under consideration, it will 
be well to consider and analyze the advantages of an 
alternate type, that is, the mast and gaff grab-bucket 
rig. 

The structure supporting the machinery can be 
built of wood or structural steel, and the tower can 
move along the wharf, where it is generally used, on 
wheels or it can he permanently fixed to the founda¬ 
tions. These rigs will handle, (a) tubs—coal buckets, 
ore buckets, etc.—which are filled by hand in the 
vessel, or (b) grab buckets of the smaller sizes. Some 
manufacturers sell these devices so arranged as to 




















CRANES 


197 



Steam operated portal pier locomotive crane, with large grab bucket 
for handling ore from vessel to railroad car. 

(Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 

operate small grabs from inclined boom elevators. 
Only one engine is required in operating, whereas the 
high-speed steeple towers require two engines; hence 
this method secures a grab bucket rig for a lower 
first cost. But before deciding upon a tub-rig eleva¬ 
tor it would be well to compare the utility of this 
device with the mast and gaff grab bucket rig. 
Unloading bulk material by a tub-rig elevator de- 












198 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Locomotive crane with an addition to the regular boom arranged for pile driving. The two cuts 
show the machine in position for work and with boom partially folded in. (Browning Company.) 
























The locomotive crane at the left is mounted on a float. Due to peculiar conditions at this water 
front the boom has an unusual shape, but the principles of operation are those of the standard 

locomotive crane type. (The Browning Company.) 

Locomotive cranes can be used for many purposes. The one on the right does the regular work 
expected of such a device, but is also arranged to handle and drive piles. (Orton & Steinbrenner.) 



















200 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



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CRANES 


201 


pends largely on liow fast tlie material can be shoveled 
into the tubs and not on the capacity of the hoisting 
rig. Shoveling speed will run from 15 to 20 tons per 
hour as ordinary work, with 35 to 40 tons as the 
maximum. With grab buckets about one trip per 
minute can be made. It is therefore slower in opera¬ 
tion than a mast and gaff or a steeple tower rig. 

The inclined booms of these elevators, which pro¬ 
ject outward from the front of the tower—that is, 
over the bulkhead line—are arranged to swing to one 
side, and when so swung leave the wharf front clear. 
They do not extend beyond the bulkhead in this posi¬ 
tion. Of course the rig is inoperative when the booms 
are swung clear around, but a slight side movement 
from their normal position is permissible, and is often 
a great convenience since it permits the tubs to be 
lowered a little to the right or left of the mid posi¬ 
tion without moving the vessel. 

In special cases where most of the material to be 
unloaded is bulk and there is some package freight 
of uniform size and weight; these rigs have been ar¬ 
ranged to handle both kinds of material. 

In unloading bulk cargo from a vessel the operation 
is as follows: Several buckets or.tubs, usully three or 
four, are filled by hand shoveling in the hold. When one 
tub is filled, it is attached to the block and hoisted 
vertically by a steam or electric single-drum engine. 
As it reaches the carriage on the inclined boom, the 
tub and carriage follow the incline of the boom to a 
point over the hopper in the tower. At this point the 
dumping lever strikes the dumping block and auto- 




202 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


matically dumps the tub, discharging the load into 
the hopper. The empty tub then rights itself and is 
lowered into the hold of the vessel where it is de¬ 
tached from the hoisting blocks. A tub which has 
been filled is then attached to the hoisting block and 
the operation is repeated. 

When a grab bucket is used, the bucket of course 
fills itself, and the shoveling is largely eliminated, 
being confined to cleaning up the portions of the 
cargo that the grab will not reach. A two-drum en¬ 
gine is required to operate the grab bucket type. 

Where these hoisting towers are mounted on wheels, 
the engine is usually fitted with a winch (called nig¬ 
ger head) on the outboard end of the main shaft. By 
using this and a suitable block and fall, the tower is 
moved along the wharf on T-rails which are generally 
used for the wheel runways. 

Mast-and-Gaff Rigs. —These devices are useful in 
handling both bulk material and packages. They are 
generally employed in unloading vessels, in unload¬ 
ing cars, in hoisting ashes from ash pits, and for 
making and reclaiming small storage piles. Usually 
this apparatus is fixed; that is, the mast is rigidly 
connected to a foundation. Very small rigs are some¬ 
times mounted on wheels but this is not the usual 
method. They are almost always operated by steam 
or electric engines, although horses are sometimes 
employed when very small qualities, light packages, 
or small one-fifth-ton or one-quarter-ton coal buckets 
are to be hoisted. 

In the ordinary wharf type, the mast is stationary, 


CRANES 


203 



A steel mast-and-gaff rig for handling coal. The grab bucket is 
shown suspended at the end of the boom. (Mead- 

Morrison Mfg. Co.) 

held by wire-rope guys, and lias a swinging boom. 
The limit of boom motion is something less than 180 
degrees. The boom should reach at least to the center 
of the vessel, or ends of the cars to be unloaded, 
and over to the outboard hatch-combing, where this 
is possible. 

A mast and gaff rig with a stiff leg, or “stiff-leg der¬ 
rick,” has about the same qualities and limitations 
as the wharf rig, with the exception that the mast is 
supported by timber or structural steel struts instead 
of wire rope guys. 

The “bull ring derrick” is one in which the mast 














204 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



An advantage of the mast-and-gaff rig is the large area which 
they will cover and the relatively small space they occupy. In this 
view, at the plant of the Union Street Railway at New Bedford, the 
mast is wooden. A grab bucket, suspended from the boom, empties 
to an inclined railway. (Mead-Morrison Co.) 













CRANES 


205 


is supported on a pivot at both ends and carries near 
the base a wheel with a vertical axis so that it can be 
swung through the whole 360 degrees of the circle. 

Coal or ore buckets, grab buckets, slings for pack¬ 
age freight, or electric magnets for ferrous materials 
can be used with all the above rigs as the nature of 
the material suggests. Except when these rigs are 
used for handling grab buckets they are comparatively 
slow in operation. With grab buckets, a two cylinder, 
two-drum engine constitutes the power equipment and 
very rapid hoisting can be secured. Frequently two 
round-trips per minute for an ordinary 25-foot hoist 
are secured, although one trip per minute is a better 
speed to consider as the practical average. Grab- 
bucket mast-and-gaff rigs with l^-yard grab buckets 
have handled from 600 to 900 tons in a ten-hour dav, 
and in most cases they can be considered good for 500 
tons. With coal tubs, about 150 to 200 tons per day 
is a day’s work, with 40 to 45 tons per hour as the 
maximum. The capacity here also depends more on 
the shoveler’s ability to till the buckets than on the 
hoisting capacity of the mechanism. For miscellane¬ 
ous packages it is not possible to give capacities as 
the conditions vary too largely. 

The use of wooden mast and gaff have been com¬ 
mon, but today the tendency is strongly in favor of 
the structural steel mast and gaff construction. 

In first cost, in speed of operation, and in daily 
capacity, these mast-and-gaff grab-bucket rigs stand 
between the tub-rig elevators and the steeple tower. 
With any reasonable daily quantity to be hoisted, 250 


206 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


tons or over, they will usually, if not always, be more 
economical than a tub rig, and with 250 to 600 tons 
per day, they are apt to be more economical than the 
steeple tower type. They are more economical than 
the tub-rig elevators because they avoid the expense 
of filling the tubs by hand shoveling, and are more 
economical than steeple towers because up to certain 
daily capacities they are lower in first cost and the 
upkeep is less. It is safe to assume, then, that a mast- 
and-gaff grab-bucket rig is almost always preferable 
to a tub-rig elevator and may or may not be economi¬ 
cal than a steeple tower. 

Steeple Tower or Boston Tower. —This is one of the 

most flexible and economical types of machinery suit¬ 
able for discharging bulk cargo from a vessel. It will 
handle both bulk and package material, but it is by 
far best adapted to bulk material. It operates very 
rapidly either by steam or electricity, although, in my 
opinion, steam is usually preferable to electric opera¬ 
tion. The usual size of steeple tower is the 1%-ton 
grab-bucket clam-shell type. Sizes up to three tons 
in capacity are built, but the size is more gen¬ 

erally used. 

The tower can be made fixed or movable; in the 
latter case it is mounted on wheels running on the 
wharf or trestle. The apparatus requires two engines 
for its operation, and the levers can be arranged so 
that it can be operated by either one or two men. 
These towers were formerly, and still are to some ex¬ 
tent, built of wood, but the present tendency is to 
make them of structural steel as they are then more 


CRANES 


207 



A tall high-speed grab bucket hoisting tower of the steeple tower 
type. This rig is steam operated from a boiler carried in the tower 
and is of the two-man type, the operators being located on a level 
with the receiving hopper in the small houses, one on either side and 
in front of the hopper. A method of preventing the grab bucket 
from twisting is shown, that is, a counterweight carried in the bight 
of the wire rope that runs from the outer end of the boom to the 

grab bucket. (Link Belt Co.) 











208 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



The electric hoisting tower, or steeple tower, here shown, is claimed 
to be the fastest of its type in the world. (Mead-Morrison Co.) 
































CRANES 


209 


durable and satisfactory. Tlie structure is pyramidal 
in form, and contains a hopper into which the grab 
dumps. It also carries an enclosed platform on which 
are mounted the hoisting engines. The engines, which 
formerly were geared engines, have been superseded 
in the last few years by direct-acting engines, that is, 
engines with the hoisting drums mounted on the crank 
shaft. The engine equipment consists of one two- 
cylinder double-drum engine for hoisting the grab 
and a two-cylinder single-drum engine for moving the 
trolley which works in and out on a horizontal boom. 
The hoisting ropes lead from the engine drums up 
over sheaves at the peak of the tower down over 
sheaves on the trolley to the grab bucket. This con¬ 
struction permits both hoisting and trolleying to be 
performed at the same time. The horizontal boom is 
arranged to swing up, sideways, or to run in, leaving 
the wharf front clear when the rig is not in use. A 
separate engine geared to the wheels can be employed 
to move the tower along the wharf, or a block and 
fall operated from the trolley engine can be used for 
a similar purpose. 

The speed of operation is very great, three trips 
per minute frequently, two trips a minute very com¬ 
monly, and I have seen them operate at a rate for 
short periods at four trips per minute with a 40-foot 
hoist. The daily capacity depends on local conditions 
and the skill of the operator, ranging from 60 to 120 
tons per hour with the 1%-yard bucket and higher 
for the larger sized buckets. 

There is a strong tendency to select direct-acting 


210 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


engines arranged to be operated by one man, known 
as “one man towers,” and this tendency seems to be 
in the line of economy. The towers are also operated 
by electricity, and the same tendency to do away 
with gearing is shown by having the drums on the 
armature shaft. 

Wherever bulk cargo in any quantity is to be dis¬ 
charged, this apparatus should be given careful con¬ 
sideration. For very high hoists, a counterweighted 
wire rope is attached to the grab to prevent twisting. 

For unloading and building a storage pile back of 
and adjacent to the tower tracks, a modified form of 
steeple tower, in which the boom is extended on both 
sides, is sometimes used, the grab being carried 
through the tower to deposit its load on or to reclaim 
material from this storage pile. These are known as 
“through towers.” Several manufactures make this 
type, differing in structural details and method of 
operating the grab. 


CHAPTER XV 


OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 

Overhead Trolleys. —Overhead tracks which sup¬ 
port wheeled carriages to which loads are suspended 
are frequently employed in manufacturing estab¬ 
lishments for carrying material from place to place. 
These carriages are usually spoken of as trolleys, 
particularly when moved by hand. When moved by 
power they are generally called “telphers” or mono- 
rail trolleys, or man-trolleys. Such overhead tracks 
and trolleys, it should be noted, may be fixed in posi¬ 
tion or may be mounted on any form of pillar, swing¬ 
ing or traveling crane. 

Hand-Moved Trolleys. —Three methods of support 
are used for the hand-moved trolley. The first type 
is the plain flat bar supported with its long side 
vertical, the trolley wheels run on top of this bar 
on wheels fitted with flanges. The trolleys usually 
have four wheels; sometimes three wheel trolleys 
are used equipped with a large center wheel to 
carry the load, the two outer flanged wheels being 
used to keep it on the track. This type is not so 
frequently found as the types described below. 

For very light work, loads from 100 to 400 or 500 
pounds, a form of inverted steel trough is used, the 
trolley running inside the trough with the wheels 

211 


212 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


on the bottom flange. The Coburn trolley system is 
constructed on this principle. While the trolley is 
made for loads up to two tons, it is more frequently 
used for the lighter loads above mentioned, this de¬ 
vice is often of great service, particularly where a 
slight incline can be given to the track and the loads 
may be transmitted by gravity. 

The third type is one in which the trolley runs 
upon the bottom flange of an I-beam. Trolleys of 
this type are made with four wheels and can be used 
in handling loads up to 20 tons. When the construc¬ 
tion is such that these trolleys must be moved any 
distance along the track it is usual to drive them 
by hauling oil a crane chain which, through a sprocket 
geared to the trolley wheels, moves the device for¬ 
ward. All of the above-mentioned trolleys may be 
fitted with hand hoists, air hoists, or electric hoists 
as the case demands. Where long runs are required 
the electric hoist is, of course, an advantage over the 
air hoist, because it will take its current from the 
trolley anywhere along the track. 

Power Trolleys. —In these devices, which are gen¬ 
erally spoken of as telphers or man-trolleys, power is 
utilized both for hoisting the load and for transmit¬ 
ting it along the track. They are therefore more 
rapid and convenient than hand trolleys. Many 
manufacturers build this type of device and many 
modifications are made as to details of construction. 
In general, the trolleys run upon the lower flange 
of an I-beam. Experience is leading to the practice, 
however, of carrying the trolley on a regular section 


OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 213 



An open cab telpher, above, with two trolley supports. The first 
trolley is driven through the spur gear wheels and both hoisting 
and trolleying motions are controlled from the cab. (Pawling and 

Harnischfeger Co.) 

Light telpher rig, below, on a transfer crane. Where there are several 
parallel telpher tracks transfer cranes similar to this are sometimes 
used to transfer the telphers from track to track. (Northern En¬ 
gineering Works.) 





















































214 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


of T-rail which, in turn, is fastened to the lower 
flanges of the I-beam. The object of this is to avoid 
the wear on the bottom flange of the I-beam where 
heavy loads are used and to distribute the load so 
that the peaning down of the lower flange of the 
I-beam may be eliminated. The common construc¬ 
tion is that in which the power and trolley mech¬ 
anisms are mounted on two trucks so arranged as to 
permit the device to pass around short curves. The 
complete system of switches, curves and turn tables 
are standard purcliaseable devices, and the trolleys 
are made for operation with either direct or alternat¬ 
ing current. 

The size of the I-beam employed depends upon the 
load and the stress, and runs from six inches up to 
24 inches, with 12 to 15 inches as the average for 
power trolley work. In all but a few types the 
operator rides in a cab on the trolley and controls 
all of its operations therefrom. For intermittent or 
special use a distant control can be used, or the 
electrical devices of the power trolley may be oper¬ 
ated by chains and ropes from the floor. 

These power trolleys may be equipped with the 
regular hoisting slings, special slings being employed 
for handling long articles, although for very long 
articles it may be advisable to have two hoists on 
the same trolley, one considerably in advance of the 
other, thereby preventing any twisting of the load 
and permitting accuracy in landing the long loads. 
Electric lifting magnets can be and are at times oper¬ 
ated from these power trolleys, but attention is called 


OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 215 



This illustration gives an excellent idea of the electric telpher ar¬ 
ranged in a warehouse for handling from railroad to storage. A 
single track parallels the railroad siding and switches permit the 
telphers to run on to any of the spurs extending to the left. The 
track, switches, trolley wire, and special grab hook 

are clearly shown. 

in the description of electric hoisting magnets to 
the possibility of the load falling on account of the 
failure or shutting off of the current. As the man- 
trolley takes its current from the trolley wire this 
fact has an added interest. In addition, tubs and 
grab buckets are of frequent service in man trolleys, 
and when grab buckets are employed, a two-motor 
hoisting device is necessary unless the grab bucket be 
closed by an electrc motor in the head of the shovel 
itself. 

In a layout for power trolley work, avoid curves 



















216 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Monorail power trolley, at the left, on a curved track. The open cage type is frequently used 
where the machine is used under cover. These machines have been designed to save space both in 
height and length, the hook block going up to the drums. (Sprague Electric Company.) 
Monorail power trolley, at the right, over a charging platform in a foundry. The trolley and 
the tub are used to charge the cupola and will handle pig, sprues, coke, etc. 















OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 217 



Special monorail power trolley of 20,000 pounds capacity with a 
structural steel sling for handling plank and arranged to deposit 
its load as one piece by the release of the special clamps holding the 
cross timbers at the bottom. The load can be easily deposited and 
picked up without repiling. Note that two men are shown, one in 
the trolley and one in the sling rig, who controls the release of the 
load when deposited; also observe that the trolley cage is carried by 
a third trolley. (Pauling and Harnischfeger Co.) 

as irmcli as possible, and eliminate, if possible, 
switches, cross-overs, and turn-tables. These devices, 
however, are commercial articles, some of them, such 
as switches, being arranged to work automatically 
as the trolley approaches the switch. But the fewer 
the turns and the larger their radius, together with 
the avoidance of switches, crosses, and turn-tables, 
all tend to simplicity of construction and ease and 
economy of operation. 















218 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: The power trolley at the Ford Motor Co. is especially ar¬ 
ranged for handling low castor trucks. 

Below: Special four-hook monorail crane used in a grey iron foun- 

dry. (Sprague Electric Co.) 







































OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 219 


Power trolleys are made so that for long runs a 
speed up to 500 or 700 feet per minute may be 
obtained; but for minor work, the hoisting speeds 
are usually low because of the size and cost of the 
hoisting motor, and also because a considerable pro¬ 
portion of the time, particularly in long runs, is taken 
up in the transmission of the load. The low hoisting 
speed may, under careful operation, be offset by hoist¬ 
ing the load to position while the trolley is moving 
along the track. 

Hoisting* Capacities of Telphers. —For the lifting 
of ordinary loads telphers are built in sizes from 
one to five or six tons. Man-trolleys (exclusively of 
those used on bridge cranes for the handling of ma¬ 
terial in bulk and freight) are usually made for grab 
buckets having capacities up to one or one and one- 
half cubic yards. As measured by the chain or rope- 
for hoisting the load, they are limited to 16 or 20 
feet for the package hoists, and to about 50 feet of 
chain for the grab-bucket hoists. Hoisting speeds 
are usually slow for the package telphers, varying 
from 25 to 75 feet per minute, and for the grab- 
bucket power trolleys up to 150 feet per minute. 
These speeds and capacities, of course, can be in¬ 
creased when necessary, by using larger drums and 
motors. There are many makes of telphers, power 
trolleys, and man-trolleys on the market. 

In regard to the telphers the Pawling & Harnisch- 
feger Co. publish the table shown on page 220. 
For grab buckets, the Sprague Electric Company give 
the figures reproduced in the table on page 221. 



















































222 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



mpm 



^ t 


War X 

FT 



Left: A Shepard monorail power trolley and a Hayward electrically closed grab bucket han¬ 
dling coal from railroad cars to storage alongside. The motor mounted in the head of the 
grab bucket allows the use of a less complex trolley and also adds to the digging power. 
Right: Large monorail trolley and grab bucket unloading coal from railroad cars to overhead 
bunkers in the power house. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 





















OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 223 



Above: Shipping platform showing power trolleys and trucks. 

• 

Below: Power trolleys arranged for loading and unloading railroad 
box cars at a large plant. Note that the material is loaded to and 
from wheeled trucks, which can be pushed into the cars and also 
on the platform, and that the trolley lifts the loaded truck and car¬ 
ries it to its destination. Note the curve in the trolley track and 
the moveable ramp to the car and the low platform trucks. 






224 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Cableways. —Cableways, while used mostly for ex¬ 
cavation and construction work, may sometimes be 
used to advantage in a factory for commanding a 
storage pile of bulk material, or for the transport¬ 
ing of miscellaneous material. 

Briefly, there are two types, one working inter¬ 
mittently and the other continuously. The first 
hoists and conveys its load by means of an aerial 
rope anchored over towers at both ends and support¬ 
ing a trolley carriage over which the hoisting ropes 
pass to the load and to which are attached the ropes 
for translating the load. While there are several 
modifications and details of this type the above de¬ 
scription will answer our purpose. The engine to 
operate these ropes may be either steam or electric, 
and the device may be used in connection with hooks 
and slings for handling package material, or by util¬ 
izing grab buckets, to handle or reclaim bulk ma¬ 
terial. Very long spans are possible, but spans of 
from 200 to 300 feet are more within the limits of 
factory utility. 

The structures forming the anchorage at either 
end may be made movable, and a large rectangular 
or circular area may be commanded thereby. When 
the span is long, provision must be made for sup¬ 
porting the hoisting ropes so that the sag of the 
ropes may not be troublesome. This apparatus can 
be operated at a very high speed, if desired. They 
have been built with translating speeds up to 1,000 
feet per minute and with hoisting speeds up to 300 
or 400 feet per minute, although in ordinary factory 


OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 225 



Aerial rope cableways can be used for moving miscellaneous loads. 
This one was used with a grab bucket for excavating loose earth. 
The trolley runs on two wheels on a rope and carries sheaves over 

which the hoisting ropes run. 


application it is probable that hoisting speeds of 100 
feet per minute and translating speeds of 300 feet per 




minute will be ample. 

The second type of cableway, known as a cable 
tramway, is an aerial conveyor in which the track 
on which the trolley runs is a wire rope. On this 
wire rope wheeled trolleys run which carry the loads. 
These trolleys are propelled along the supporting 
rope by means of a second haulage rope which is 







226 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



The ropeway at the left is shown in the act of dumping on a waste heap. The one at the right 
carries ore from mine to mill over a distance of several miles. Both are products of A. Leschen 

& Sons Co. 
















OVERHEAD TROLLEYS AND CABLEWAYS 227 


continuously moving, the trolleys being ungripped 
and gripped at destination and starting point re¬ 
spectively. 

The most frequent use of the cable tramway is 
in handling bulk material, and the trolleys usually 
support automatic dumping, self-righting buckets. 
These devices have been developed to a very high 
degree. The details of construction have been so 
worked out as regards spans, supporting towers, 
leading sheaves, trolley details, and driving mechan¬ 
isms, that they are installed in mining districts for 
lengths of several miles. 

While it is improbable that there will be an ex¬ 
tensive use of this type of mechanism for manufac¬ 
turers, the writer would consider its use in the dis¬ 
posal of waste from some of the manufacturing pro¬ 
cesses, or to bring into the factory from some adja¬ 
cent source certain kinds of raw material needed in 
the manufacturing processes, or where some difficult 
configuration of the terrain make the installation of 
the ordinary transporting methods too costly. 

The use of cableways and cable tramways is so in¬ 
frequent and the conditions surrounding them of such 
special nature that I feel that any further detail 
would be more of a disadvantage than an advantage 
to the reader. When such a problem is met it is a 
case for the specialist, and the manufacturers of these 
devices will be glad to confer with the prospective 
purchaser. 


CHAPTER XVI 


CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 

Conveyors Defined. —Conveyor is a term loosely 
used, but the following definition is fairly representa¬ 
tive at the present time: Continuous devices which 
carry, push, or pull the load horizontally, or at slight 
inclines, are usually termed conveyors. Those that 
lift them vertically or on steep inclines are usually 
termed elevators. Those that do both with the same 
machine are called conveyors. A chain belt with the 
vane or bucket rigidly fastened to it and pushing the 
load horizontally would be called a conveyor, but if 
the same device were used to lift the load vertically 
it would be called an elevator. The pivoted bucket 
(gravity bucket type) conveyor is used both for 
horizontal and for the vertical movements. Usually 
this type is used when both movements are required 
to take the load to its destination. 

Conveyors handle their loads in two ways; the one 
which carries its load, the other which pushes or 
pulls its load in a trough. Where any large amount 
of material is to be moved the type which carries 
the load is preferable and the greater part of this 
chapter is devoted to conveyors of this kind. The 
cost of power is lower than in the second type, and 
it is comparatively free from the rapid wear resulting 

228 


CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


229 


from material getting into the working parts of 
the mechanism. 

Of the carrier type of conveyors there are, gen¬ 
erally speaking, two distinct varieties; first, the belt 
conveyor, and second, the bucket conveyor. These 
two will be treated separately in this chapter. 

Belt Conveyors. —The general use of belt convey¬ 
ors, the first type of the carrier conveyor, dates 
back from about 1868, when Mr. Lyster, the engineer 
of the Liverpool Docks, conducted some very ex¬ 
tensive experiments to determine the most suitable 
conveyor for handling grain and decided that the 
belt conveyor was the preferable type. From this 
time on the belt conveyor has been a popular and 
economical method of handling large quantities of 
material. 

In Mr. Lyster *s experiments are found most of the 
fundamental features necessary for the selection of 
a suitable and convenient belt. The sizes of pulleys 
which he selected averaged from four to eight inches 
in diameter, and it was found in practice that sepa¬ 
rate pulleys set at an angle are preferable to the 
curved pulley, due to the fact that the varying per¬ 
ipheral speeds of the curved pulley cause excessive 
wearing on the belts. 

Uses and Advantages. —Belt conveyors are one of 
the most convenient and most frequently used types 
of machinery in handling bulk material. They 
possess the advantage of handling material in large 
quantities and of almost every nature, the general 
exception being material that will stick to the belt. 



Above: The two conveyors on the right show how the troughing 
of the conveyor belt is obtained. On the left in the immediate fore¬ 
ground is shown the idler pulleys that support the belt when flat 
ground is shown the idler pulleys that support the belt when flat. 
Below: Special portable belt conveyor driven by a gasoline engine. 
230 (Webster Mfg. Co.) 









CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


231 


The conveyors are noiseless in operation and require 
but a small amount of power and small labor super¬ 
vision. 

As a rule belt conveyors are rarely advisable where 
the total run of one conveyor needs approach 1000 
feet; but when long runs are required two or more 
conveyors may be and sometimes are used. The 
limit in length depends upon the strength of the belt, 
and consequently the cost. It is an economic ques¬ 
tion, because very long belts must be very strong and 
are consequently high in first cost and in replacement. 

Their principal use is in handling bulk materials, 
although of late years they are frequently used to 
handle package material. . The bulk material for 
which they are particularly useful includes coal, ore, 
sand, broken stone, coke, and in fact almost any bulk 
material except that which is sticky or hotter than 
180 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Level, or approximately level runs, are the most 
favorable, but short inclines up to twenty degrees, 
are common. If necessary, they may be operated with 
materials up to twenty-three degrees, but any incline 
over eighteen degrees should be carefully investigated 
and reduced if possible. 

Speeds and Capacities. —Belt conveyors will handle 
enormous quantities at high speed. A 36-inch belt 
handling material weighing fifty pounds per cubic 
foot has a capacity of about 225 tons per hour, travel¬ 
ing at 300 feet per minute. The 54-inch belt has a 
capacity of about 1,100 tons per hour at 400 feet per 
minute. 



232 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: A throw off dumping carriage of a belt conveyor in opera¬ 
tion. Below: Loaded belt conveyor in use. Note how evenly the 
belt is loaded and how it conforms to the method of roller support. 












CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


233 


For handling bulk material in manufacturing the 
speeds vary from 275 to 400 feet per minute, with 
about 300 to 350 feet per minute as a fair average 
to assume for preliminary investigations. 

Belts vary in size from 12 inches up to 20 inches 
by two-inch variations. Although 22-inch belts are 
made, they are not frequently used. The next 
size is 24-inches, and the widths run up to 60-inches 
by six-inch variations. The sizes most frequently 
met with in manufacturing establishments are those 
between 18 and 24 inches, with an average speed of 300 
feet per minute, and carrying from 80 to 400 tons 
per hour of material weighing 50 pounds to the cubic 
foot. 

Construction of Belts. —For practical use in manu¬ 
facturing plants there are but three types of belt 
construction that are common: 

First, the plain cotton belt; second, the balata cov¬ 
ered belt; and third, the rubber covered belt. The 
balata belt is largely impervious to damp. 

The rubber-covered belt is the one most frequently 
used. It is composed of three or more layers of cot¬ 
ton duck, cemented together with rubber and covered 
on the carrying side by a layer of rubber from one- 
sixteenth to one-quarter of an inch in thickness. 
Sometimes fewer layers of the cotton fabric are used 
in the middle of the belt than at the edges, thus in¬ 
creasing the thickness of the rubber coating at this 
point and increasing the wearing qualities. In addi¬ 
tion, this makes the belt more flexible for the trougli- 
ing that is practically universal in handling bulk 


234 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


material in factories. It is poor economy to buy a 
cheap rubber belt unless its use is to be of a tem¬ 
porary nature. 

In handling bulk material in factories, the belt is 
trouglied for the purpose of making it carry a greater 
quantity for a given width of belt. This trougliing 
is secured by means of bottom and side idlers, the 
side ones being set at an angle. 

Pulleys are usually placed from four to six feet 
apart on the carrying side of the conveyor. On the 
return side of the conveyor pulleys are usually placed 
from eight to twelve feet apart, and the conveyor 
is preferably driven by the pulleys at the delivery 
end of the conveyor. 

The pulleys and idlers on which the belts run are 
from four to six inches in diameter and ground 
smooth. Usually three pulleys are used for the 
loaded side of the convevor, the one in the middle 
with the axis horizontal, and the one on either side 
of this middle pulley with the axis inclined, thus 
trougliing the belt. This three-pulley arrangement 
is used for belts up to 24 inches in width. For that 
size and under when handling heavy material five 
pulleys are used. 

The usual method of driving the belts is by power 
applied to the delivery end of the belt, using the 
simple pulley for short lines, and a second (tandem) 
pulley for long lines, thereby obtaining an extra lap 
and a resultant additional driving capacity. The 
driving pulleys are usually made with a lagged rub¬ 
ber covering to insure steady driving, and the end 



Belt conveyors are frequently used for handling packages. The 
upper one is used in the Returned Goods Room of National Cloak 
& Suit Co. The lower view shows a single belt conveyor divided into 
two longitudinal conveyors handling packages of O’Sullivan rubber 

heels. (The Lamson Company.) (235) 











236 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


pulley has a diameter in inches usually not less than 
five times the number of plies in the belt. 

Discharging from Belt Conveyors. —Loads may be 
discharged from belt conveyors either by dropping 
the load over the end pulley or by installing a 
“throw-off” or dumping carriage at one or several 
points along the carrying line, as shown in the upper 
illustration on page 232. 

There are three types of these dumping devices: 
(a) the fixed type, (b) the movable type, (c) the 
automatic type, which feeds itself back and forth 
along the delivery line. The automatic type can be 
locked at any point desired, and thus deliver the 
material at a given point. Also by automatically 
moving back and forth, it will distribute the load 
over the total length of run. 

In principle these throw-off carriages are all the 
same. Without such carriages, the belt with the ma¬ 
terial on it is carried along and over a pulley, the 
belt itself then turns downwards and passes around 
another pulley, continuing its run below the convey¬ 
ing line. The material on the belt leaves the belt 
by its inertia where the belt turns around the first- 
mentioned pulley, and is caught and carried through 
a spout which diverts the material to one or both 
sides of the conveying belt. With the movable throw- 
off devices, the material may be shunted at any 
given point from the belt. 

In planning a belt conveyor outfit two things deter¬ 
mine the size of the belt; the quantity of material to be 
handled, and the size of the lumps. A belt of a given 


CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


237 


width carries material in direct proportion to the 
speed at which it runs, and the cost of the belt will 
depend upon its length and the width and the num¬ 
ber of ply, and also upon the thickness of the pro¬ 
tective coating. 

Reasons of Belt Failure. —Belts give out for several 
reasons: The most obvious ones are the wear conse¬ 
quent to carrying the load, the method of loading 
the belt, and the abrasive nature of the material 
carried. While these are important matters they are 
not the only ones to be considered in manufacturing 
establishments, for the amount of work done is fre¬ 
quently small as compared to the belt’s handling 
capacity. 

Belts may also give out from age and from accident. 
Rubber passes through a deteriorating process due 
to age, and this is accentuated by operating in hot 
places or where there are fumes, particularly sul¬ 
phurous fumes. This deterioration from age can be 
likened to a rubber band when it becomes old and 
loses its elasticity. Frequently belts are replaced for 
this reason. 

Another cause of belt failure arises from the acci¬ 
dents which are liable to occur. Sometimes a large 
lump of material may catch at the loading point and 
tear the belt in the center, or a large lump will be 
carried along where there is insufficient clearance and 
will crowd down upon the belt and tear or cut it. 
Further damage is then done when the tine portions 
of the material carried works down into these cuts 
and, as the belt passes around the pulleys, causes 


238 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


the separation of the rubber covering, and occasion¬ 
ally a separation of the layers of fabric from each 
other, not unlike the separation between the layers of 
an automobile tire which has been cut by glass or 
sharp stones. 

Frequently where there is not proper clearance at 
the sides, the belt will catch at the edge upon some 
obstruction and long strips or irregular patches of 
rubber may be torn out at or near the edge. Idlers 
are often used at the sides to prevent this fleeting of 
the belt and are a help in preventing this difficulty. 

In figuring the economy of the use of the belt con¬ 
veyor it is wise to consider that the belt will have to 
be replaced in about three years, even when there is 
not enough material to be carried to wear it out. 
While belts may and do last longer than this, the 
above assumption is a safe way to make an analysis. 
The Link-Belt Company estimate the work that a belt 
conveyor should do, with a %-inch good grade cover 
for a belt 100 feet long, with one feed, to be, for its 
life, a tonnage equal to 500 multiplied by the width 
squared—a belt 200 feet long, twice as much. 

Methods of Loading. —Belts are primarily intended 
for the continuous receipt, discharge and delivery of 
material; they operate much better under these con¬ 
ditions and should be uniformly loaded. 

The spouts that deliver the material on the con¬ 
veyor should ordinarily be about one-half the width 
of the belt, with the bottom of the chute inclined in 
the same direction in which the conveyor runs. The 
motion of the material carried through the spouts 



CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


239 


should be in the same direction as the belt moves. 
Where heavy or sharp material is to be conveyed, it 
is wiser to have the gravity effect of the spout on the 
material produce a speed of motion approximately the 
same and in the same direction as that of the belt, 
and to have the drop from the spout to the belt as 
small as possible so that the abrasion, friction, and 
resultant wear may be reduced. 

Where the spouts fill a conveyor which is running 
on an incline, particular care must be exercised so 
that the lumps shall not roll backward on the con¬ 
veyor, pass underneath the spout, wedge there, and 
cut through and wear the conveyor belt. Where the 
material flows easily and steadily, a plain spout is 
satisfactory, the sides being carried forward a slight 
distance on the conveyor to insure a smooth loading, 
the angle of the bottom of the chute being about 
forty-five degrees. The sides should never touch the 
convevor. Where the material is not uniform in size 
or character and is liable to flow unevenly, it is ad¬ 
visable to have a filling mechanism, such as the re¬ 
ciprocating filler, or a continuous filler which steadily 
draws a certain amount from the pocket and places it 
on the conveyor. Various types of these fillers are 
manufactured. 

From the nature of the belt conveyor it is evident 
that it is intended as a straight-line conveying ma¬ 
chine. Where material is to be conveyed in two 
directions, say at right angles, it is necessary to 
transfer the load to another belt running in the direc¬ 
tion desired. But in some cases where the change in 


240 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


direction is from the horizontal to the incline, the in¬ 
stallation can he so arranged that the same belt can 
be used for both motions. 

Planning a Belt Conveyor Installation. —In plan¬ 
ning a belt conveyor installation it is usually not 
necessary to go into great details as to the number of 
ply, the exact construction of the belt, the thickness 
of the cover, the horse power, etc., for these details 
can he left until the time of purchase when the advice 
of the manufacturers can he secured. The main 
things to be determined are the width of belt required 
for the material to be handled, and the rate at which 
the material must he handled. This can be done very 
quickly by reference to the tables which follow. For 
those who need to have more detail, information will 
be given later enabling them to get a fairly accurate 
line on these matters. 

The important thing and the one that largely settles 
the cost of the installation is the correct decision as 
to the needs of the situation in regard to the capacity 
actually required. If one gets too small a belt, he is 
in constant trouble; if too large a one, he has more 
cost than need he. As the belt itself is expensive and 
has to he renewed periodically the up-keep charges 
are greater than necessary. 

The cost of labor is very low, for belt conveyors 
need little attention when operating, and usually one 
man will superintend the operation. The conveyor 
cannot he loaded continuously during the working 
day, for there will be delays of all sorts, shifting cars, 
changing dumpers, etc., for which allowance must be 


CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


241 


made. The usual plan in selection is this: A belt is 
picked out whose width is suitable for the average 
and maximum size of lumps, and is run as slowly as 
the needs of the situation and the cost for the time 
of the man operating will permit. It may pay, on the 
other hand, to run fast and use the man for other 
work, particularly when the belts are short. In the 
usual case the belt will be in use from 30 to 75 per 
cent of. the working day. 

A Specific Problem Illustrated. —Assume that it is 
necessary to handle one hundred tons of coal per day. 
One must figure on unloading, not only an average of 
two, possibly three, standard-guage railroad cars each 
day, but should also be able to unload ten cars per 
day or fifty tons per hour in time of need. Assuming 
that it is run-of-mine bituminous coal prepared at the 
receiving hopper by a coal crusher to lumps not over 
two inches in size, then, as shown in the following 
tables, a 14-incli belt will do. This belt at 350 feet 
per minute will have the capacity required—50 tons 
per hour. 

As the wear of the belt increases with the number 
of turns it must make to carry the load, it sometimes 
pays to arrange so that the belt may run slower under 
ordinary conditions and be speeded up for the maxi¬ 
mum requirements. In the foregoing case, therefore, 
probably the best speed to figure on would be about 
300 to 350 feet per minute, as this will then make the 
time required to convey the coal from the railroad 
car to the pocket about the same as the time it ordi¬ 
narily takes to get a car in place, dump it, clean it out, 



242 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


and get another one ready for unloading. This 
method will he economical in operation, because the 
two cars used daily will be unloaded in about two 
hours. The conveyor may then be shut down, and the 
man operating it freed to perform other useful work. 
And in case of need by working all day, the ten cars 
can be unloaded. 

Selecting the Belt. —In selecting a belt for handling 
bulk material where large quantities are not to be 
handled, the first determining item is the size of the 
lumps to be carried. There is a certain relation be¬ 
tween the width of the belt necessary and the average 
and maximum size of the lumps to be handled, and 
the following table may be used as representing a 
good average practice in this respect: 


Sized 

Lumps, 

Inches 

Size of 
Largest 
Lumps, 
Inches 

Minimum 
Width of 
Belt, 
Inches 

Sized 

Lumps, 

Inches 

Size of 
Largest 
Lumps, 
Inches 

Minimum 
Width of 
Belt, 
Inches 

1.5 

2 

12 

4/5 

8 

24 

2 

3 

14 

7 

12 

30 

2.5 

4 

16 

9 

16 

36 

3 

5 

• 18 

12 

20 

42 

3.5 

6 

20 

15 

24 

48 

4 

r 7 
( 

22 

18 

28 

54 

Courtesy, The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. 


Determination of Requisite Capacity. —After the 
width of the belt is determined, the next question is 
the real capacity required. This, of course, will vary 
for the belt selected with the weight per cubic foot 
and the angle of repose of material to be handled. 
















CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


243 


The average weights of material that are ordinarily 
met with in manufacturing plants are approximately 
those given in the table below. 

Wt. in Lbs. 


Material _ per Cu. Ft. 

Coal (Bituminous). 50— 60 

Coal (Anthracite). 60— 65 

Ashes. 45— 55 

Coke . 32— 35 

Lime and Cement. 50— 60 

Sand and Gravel (Dry). 100—120 

Sand and Gravel (Wet). 120—130 

Loose Earth. 75— 80 

Crushed Stone. 150—175 

Coarse Stone. 160—170 


Courtesy, The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. 

In selecting the speed of the conveying belt to meet 
the given capacity required, it must always be re¬ 
membered that conveyors, while running constantly, 
are not apt to be constantly carrying their maximum 
load, and great care must be exercised in estimating 
for their capacity to provide for the delays incident 
to all handling operations in factories. If the actual 
requirements per hour require a certain hourly capa¬ 
city, hour after hour, and the belts can be steadily 
loaded, a capacity within ten per cent of those given 
in the above table can be reached. 

If the work is more or less intermittent, subject to 
delays, a value of from fifty to eighty per cent of 
the capacities given by the table below will represent 
a fair average for the day’s work. In very long or 
large belts this question of just how much must be 
handled becomes important because the first and re- 















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CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


245 


placements costs of good belts are high. In the 
smaller sizes it is much less important. 

The maximum carrying capacity of belts is given 
in the table on the opposite page. 

As the capacity varies as the weight per cubic feet 
of the material, the table must be corrected for ma¬ 
terial heavier or lighter than fifty pounds per cubic 
foot, and also interpreted by the note on actual capa¬ 
cities given above. 

Power Required to Operate Conveyors. —The power 
required varies directly as the length of the conveyor 
and directly to the amount of work performed in 
lifting the load. The following table shows the 
approximate horsepower required for belt conveyors 
as given by the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. 


Power Required for Level Conveyors 

100 Feet Long 

Tons Per Hour 

Horse Power 

Tons Per Hour 

Horse Power 

50 

1.7 

800 

15.0 

100 

2.3 

900 

17.0 

200 

4.0 

1,000 

18.6 

300 

5.8 

1,100 

20.3 

400 

7.8 

1,200 

22.0 

500 

9.3 

1,300 

24.0 

600 

11.0 

1,400 

25.7 

700 

13.0 

1,500 

27.6 


Where there is an incline add to the figures from 
the table of horsepowers the work done in lifting the 
load. A calculation will show that the horsepower 












246 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



A large dumping carriage for a bell conveyor. Note the six trough- 
ing idlers, the two side idlers for steadying the belt sidewise, the 
large pulleys over which the belt passes when discharging its load 
and the discharge chute at the side just in front of the man, whose 
height gives comparison as to size. (Link Belt Co.) 


required to lift a load on the incline is approximately 
given by the result secured by multiplying the num¬ 
ber of tons handled per hour by the height of the lift 
in feet and dividing the product by 1000; that is, 100 
tons per hour lifted 10 feet requires one additional 
horsepower. 

Where trippers are required to discharge the load, 
additional horsepower is necessary. This varies con¬ 
siderably with the type of tripper used and runs from 
one-half horsepower for the smaller or 12-inch belts 
to six horsepower for a 54-inch belt. Some manu- 











CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


247 


facturers recommend that one horsepower he added 
for each tripper for every 12 inches of belt width. 

These horsepowers are the net requirements of the 
belts and their pulleys to move the load. In selecting 
motors to drive these conveyors, allowances must be 
made for the gear reduction and for motor peculiari¬ 
ties. In small sizes, it is best to double the net horse¬ 
power for the motor size, and in other cases to add 
from 25 to 50 per cent to the net horsepower from 
the tables. 

Number of Plies in Conveyor Belting. —Belts are 
made with various weights of duck, 28, 32 and 36 
ounces. The weight and number of these layers of 
duck determine the strength of the belt. Belts up to 
24 inches are seldom made with more than six plies, 
while the minimum number of plies varies from three 
for 12-inch and 14-inch belts to four for 16, 18, and 
20-inch belts, and to five for 24-inch belts. The larger 
belts, from 30 inches up, seldom vary more than three 
plies in thickness; say from five to eight plies< for 
30-inch, six to eight plies for 36-inch, six to nine plies 
for 42-inch, seven to 10 plies for 48-inch, and eight 
to twelve plies for 54-inch belting. It has been found 
in practice that for the widths of belts given above, 
fewer than the minimum plies makes the belt too 
limber and more than the maximum makes the belt 
too stiff. 

The usual method of figuring the number of plies 
and the weight of the duck required in special con¬ 
veyor work is to work back from the horsepower that 
is required to move the belt, This is, in reality, using 


248 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


the maximum stress in the belt as the deciding factor. 
The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company advise: If 
the horsepower is multiplied by a constant, “K,” as 
given in the table below, and this result is divided by 
the produce of the belt width in inches and the speed 
in feet per minute, the quotient will be the required 
number of plies. 

R.P.X^ 

wxs 

where P = number of plies required 
H.P. = number of horsepower 
W — width of belt in inches 
8 = speed of the belt in feet per minute. 

K — a constant depending on the weight of duck 
and the type of drive to be used as de¬ 
termined from the following table: 


f . 

Values of “K” 

Type of Pulley Drive 

36 Oz. 
Duck 

32 Oz. 
Duck 

28 Oz. 
Duck 

Bare, Single. 

1,600 

1,440 

1,330 

1,200 

1,750 

1,570 

1,460 

1,310 

1,850 

1,660 

1,540 

1,390 

Lagged, Single. 

Bare, Tandem. 

Lagged, Tandem... 


For moving ordinary soft material, as, for instance, 
sawdust, shavings, sticks of wood, etc., the rubber 
covering is usually about 1/16-inch in thickness. It 
is %-inch for material like soft coal, sand, gravel, 
etc.; 3/16-inch for heavy work where there is much 
work to be done, such as stone, coke, cement, coal, 














CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


249 


and ^4-inch for extra heavy work; this latter thick¬ 
ness is not often needed in a manufacturing plant. 

Bearings for Belt Conveyors. —In most cases, belt 
conveyors fitted with ordinary bearings, lubricated by 
grease cups, are entirely satisfactory. The cost of 
power is usually so low that the small amount of 
horsepower saved by using roller or ball-bearing ar¬ 
rangements are not necessary in small or intermit¬ 
tently-used conveyors. Roller bearings do run easier 
and reduce the power consumption, and when large 
conveyors are used and the power costs are high, or 
where large quantities of power are used continu¬ 
ously, this type should be considered. 

On inclined conveyors, where the pull of the load 
or the horsepower to lift the load is greater than that 
to run the conveyor on the level, “hold backs** to keep 
the conveyor from running backward are sometimes 
necessary. Solenoid brakes on the motor or driving 
mechanism can be used for this purpose. 

Bucket Conveyors. —Bucket conveyors, the second 
of the two general types of carrier conveyors, are 
made in three ways; a, with the bucket rigidly con¬ 
nected to the chain; b, with the bucket pivotally 
mounted on the chain in such a manner that the 
bucket can make a complete revolution on its axis; 
c, with the bucket pivotally mounted on the chain but 
in such manner that it cannot make a complete revo¬ 
lution thereon. Buckets in many shapes and sizes 
are used for each of these purposes. The first type, 
in some designs, is built with but one chain; although 
two chains, one at either side of the bucket, are more 


250 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Ascending (driven) and descending’ (slack) corners or curves of a 
gravity bucket conveyor as built by the Link Belt Company. The 
conveyor is of the overlapping lip type. The driving mechanism is 
preferably placed on the top of the ascending conveyor. Note that 
the buckets are pivoted on an extension of the links and not in their 
centers or at the wheel supporting points. This is one of the 
methods to prevent interference of the lips of the buckets, when 
changing from lower horizontal to the vertical 
lines of the conveyor. 


































CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


251 

common. The types which have the buckets mounted 
pivotally are invariably built with two chains. 

Conveyor Chain. —Many types of conveyor chain are 
in use, differing in strength and size of links to suit 
the work to be done. Many modifications exist in the 
methods of attaching the various buckets to the con¬ 
veyor links. The links are of two kinds and may be 
best understood by calling them short links and long 
links. The short links are generally made of malle¬ 
able iron, joined together to form a chain which 
passes over the sprocket wheels for driving and also 
for changes in direction of motion from horizontal to 
vertical. This construction permits the use of small 
sprockets where necessary or of large sprockets with 
many more teeth. 

The long links are constructed of malleable iron, 
cast steel, or punched steel bars, and are connected 
together by means of round pins or axles on which 
the convevor buckets are usuallv mounted. This con- 
struction, of course, requires a much larger sprocket 
wheel to drive it and requires larger curves around 
which the conveyor must pass at the turns. With the 
small links, the buckets can be mounted as frequently 
as need be, or they may be separated widely from 
each other. With the long links there is usually one 
bucket for every two links longitudinally of the chain. 

Where the convevor with short links and the 
buckets rigidly fastened thereto is employed its most 
frequent use is in elevating vertically, or on steep in¬ 
clines. This type of conveyor is called an elevator, or 
a bucket elevator. 



252 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Diagram of complete run of a continuous gravity bucket conveyor. The driving is accomplished 
by means of a sprocket wheel which engages the conveyor chain. Curves are used at the corners 
to reduce pow r er and w T ear on the conveyor wheels. The conveyor is filled directly from the coal 
crusher, wdiich is fed by a reciprocating feeder from the receiving hopper. The lower line is 
carried in a protecting trough to prevent pilling while loading. (Link Belt Company.) 






















































































CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


253 


Gravity Bucket Conveyors. —Gravity bucket con¬ 
veyors, so-called to distinguish them from the type 
of conveyor in which the bucket is fastened rigidly to 
the chain, are used in manufacturing plants almost 
exclusively for handling bulk materials, such as coal 
and ashes. They can be used for any material that 
can be filled into the buckets, of course, and their 
use may be of service in handling other materials 
than those mentioned. In general they are indicated 
when the work to be done includes both hoisting and 
conveying, that is, a combined vertical and horizantal 
movement of the material. They will move horizon¬ 
tally, vertically, or at an incline, and one type, the 
one in which the buckets swing clear in all positions, 
can be twisted on the vertical lines and depart from 
the over-head curve at any angle desired. With 
this arrangement the conveyor need not be in one 
vertical plane. This is sometimes a great advantage 
in that it simplifies the layout and reduces the num¬ 
ber of machines required. 

Construction of Buckets. —Buckets which carry the 
load have approximately the shape of a half-cylinder, 
or preferably a half-hexagon, and are mounted either 
on studs engaging the ends of the buckets, or on axles 
passing entirely through them to the conveyor chain. 
Upon these axles or studs, and sometimes on inter¬ 
mediary studs, are mounted wheels, from four to 
eight inches in diameter depending upon the size of 
the conveyor. The conveyor chain, as previously de¬ 
scribed, consists of the two side chains with their 
wheels, axles, and the pivotally mounted bucket. 



254 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Gravity bucket conveyors showing lower horizontal run loaded, up¬ 
take side of conveyor loaded, and a special form of tiller sometimes 
used where space is limited. This filling device is a cut-off valve 
operated by the conveyor chain and timed so that it opens and fills 
each bucket as it passes, and closing when the material would spill 
between the buckets. (C. W. Hunt Co.) 

















CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


255 


The construction is such as to allow the bucket to 
rotate freely and maintain an upright position, no 
matter whether the chain be running horizontally, on 
an incline, or vertically. 

Capacity and Sizes. —Gravity bucket conveyors are 
made in a variety of sizes, ranging in capacity from 
30 tons of coal an hour up to 200 tons, or more if 
need be. As to the buckets themselves, the writer be¬ 
lieves that a conveyor of this type can very seldom 
use to advantage buckets smaller than, say, 16 to 18 
inches wide and 18 to 20 inches long, the smaller size 
corresponds to a machine having a capacity of 30 tons 
an hour. A bucket conveyor is a slow moving me¬ 
chanism and the speed at which it runs is usually be¬ 
tween 40 and 60 feet per minute. In the writer’s 
opinion the speed of a conveyor of this type can be 
economically increased, with suitable driving appa¬ 
ratus, to as high a speed as will permit the buckets to 
receive and dump their loads satisfactorily. This may 
not, in most cases, be an important point, but it is 
worth noting. 

Types of Bucket Conveyors. —The following descrip¬ 
tion of gravity bucket conveyors will give a good 
idea of the types in general use. First among these 
is the type in which the edge of one bucket does not 
touch the edge of the next, thereby permitting each 
bucket to make a complete rotation at any time. 
The usual construction of this type is to mount the 
buckets on studs and to have axles running through 
the chain between each two buckets. Wheels are then 
attached both to the studs and to the axles. The 



256 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

space left between the buckets necessitates a very 
accurate method of filling the buckets, otherwise there 
will be spill between them, and several varieties of 
filling devices are manufactured for the purpose. 

The second type obviates the necessity of filling 
mechanisms, for the edges of the buckets come to¬ 
gether with a minute clearance, the space being too 
small to allow any quantity of material to pass 
through, but at the same time allowing the buckets 
to have free rotation about its axis. This is called 
the 44 contact bucket type.” Another type of similar 
construction lias its edge extending over the edges of 
the following bucket. This is known as the over¬ 
lapping type, or continuous bucket conveyor. This 
design necessitates a means of reversing the lap of 
the lips of the bucket at certain portions of its cir¬ 
cuit and is open to the objection that, if this be not 
done properly, there may be an accident which will 
cause the breakage of several buckets or even more 
serious trouble. Various means for reversing the lap 
of the lips are resorted to by different manufacturers. 
One method is to employ cams; another is to mount 
the bucket, not upon the center of the link between 
the wheels, but on the ends of the link extended for¬ 
ward beyond the wheel supporting the link. 

Still another form has the buckets constructed so 
that one end laps over the axle as well as over the 
forward end of the following bucket. In this type the 
bucket cannot make a complete revolution in the 
chain, and on the down side of the conveyor the 
buckets occupy a position at right angles to that 


CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


257 


which they have upon the level and uptake side of 
the conveyor. In other words, it is a gravity con¬ 
veyor on the up run and on both horizontal runs, but 
the buckets do not make a complete free revolution 
and are held rigidly on the down side of the con¬ 
veyor. 

Filling the Buckets. —The latter three of the fore¬ 
going types are designed for the purpose of avoiding 
the use of mechanisms for filling buckets. To a cer¬ 
tain extent they accomplish this purpose, although 
it is necessary to resort to a spout which fills the con¬ 
veyor with a constant flow. 

With these types of machines there is always more 
or less spill, for the cubic capacity of the chain 
varies longitudinally, due to the rounding shape of 
the buckets, and it is inevitable that a certain amount 
of material will pile up upon the forward and rear 
edges of the buckets and a certain amount of this will 
spill when the conveyor changes its motion from hor¬ 
izontal to vertical. 

Various types of filling devices are utilized for fill¬ 
ing these conveyors, amongst which the reciprocating 
feeders, or valves operated by the chain, may be men¬ 
tioned. Were it not for the cost of securing a suitable 
tunnel in which to place the conveyor under coal 
bunkers, in ash cellars, and under hoppers below rail¬ 
road cars, the writer would prefer a filling device in 
connection with the conveyor. This is not always 
possible, nor is it economical, because the additional 
cost of the space required may more than off-set the 
cost of cleaning up. But it will often be found that 



258 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Upper run of loaded gravity bucket conveyor showing plenty of room, lots of light, and a good 
walk. Conveyors so installed are apt to receive better attention and give less trouble than when 

installed in cramped and dark places. (Link Belt Company.) 













CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


259 


suitable space for tlie conveyor throughout its whole 
run can he obtained with a very small additional cost. 
This space should include at least sufficient room for 
men to work around and care for the machinery. A 
good lighting system is of great importance. Further¬ 
more, care should be taken that the tunnel will drain 
to one common pump where arrangments should be 
installed for pumping out the water. 

Driving Mechanisms. —Gravity bucket conveyors 
are generally driven by sprocket wheels engaging 
with the pins of the conveyor chain or with the 
wheels mounted thereon. In such cases, the driving 
wheel is usually located at the top of the lifting line, 
and is connected by suitable gearing to a steam or 
electric motor. This method of driving, due to the 
action of the sprockets, produces an uneven motion 
of the chain, which may sometimes be corrected by 
the use of special spur gearing. Both the driving 
and the other sprocket wheels can be obtained with 
removable wearing pieces. Another type of drive is 
that in which the chain is driven by pawls pivoted 
on the periphery of a gear, the other ends of these 
pawls engaging the studs in the conveyor chain, and 
in this way overcoming the tendency to an uneven 
motion of the chain. 

Durability and Utility. —Wherever gravity bucket 
conveyors are installed they are usually intended to 
last for a number of years. Consequently, a thor¬ 
oughly well designed device with large bearing sur¬ 
faces, suitable provision for oiling, conveyor wheels 
with chilled treads, and rotary wheels at the curves, 


260 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: Automatic weighing and filling machine and slat conveyor 
delivering bagged fertilizer to inclined gravity chute. 
(Automatic Weighing Machine Co.) 

Below: Slat conveyor handling packages in bags. Note the protect¬ 
ing sides forming a trough the full length of the conveyor. 
























































CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


261 




as well as a substantial bucket and chain construc¬ 
tion should be selected. 

The buckets may be purchased of sheet steel, of 
cast iron, of malleable iron, and of a combination of 
cast and sheet parts. The sheet buckets with cast 
cams have the advantage of being lighter, thereby 
reducing the weight and consequent wear of the con¬ 
veyor parts. The combination of sheet steel buckets 
with malleable cams is sometimes called a “ malleable 
bucket ’ ’, which in itself is a misnomer and may possi¬ 
bly be misleading to the purchaser. 

Where ashes, particularly wet ashes or other ma¬ 
terial which rapidly corrodes the sheet steel, are 
handled, the cast iron buckets are usually preferable. 
The increasing use of pure iron sheet, such as. the 
“American ingot iron” which has great resistance to 
corroding action, may ultimately prove itself prefer¬ 
able to the cast iron bucket. 

Advantages of Gravity Buckets. —Gravity bucket 
conveyors, used so largely for the combined work of 
conveying and elevating bulk material, have the ad¬ 
vantage of low rolling friction and therefore require 
but a small amount of power for operation. It is 
difficult to give an idea of the motor power required, 
but rarely will a factory conveyor installation re¬ 
quire a motor larger than 15 to 20 horsepower. 

In the early days of the gravity bucket conveyor 
the curves about which the conveyor ran were made 
fixed; but experience has proved that the wear makes it 
advisable to utilize rotating curves or sprockets at 
these points, for the reason that the rotation of the 



262 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: Chain conveyor with wooden slats. At the discharge end 
on the left the pieces are pulled over onto the inclined platform. 
Below: Chain conveyor with wooden slats used to handle engine 

parts. (Link Belt Co.) 




































CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


263 


conveyor wheels on the axles under heavy load pro¬ 
duces wear from this source. This design, however, 
has not reduced the wear of the pin in the link joints, 
hence rotating curves of larger radius are used than 
was formerly the case, because such curves reduce 
the angular motion of the links upon the axles. 

Dumping the Buckets. —Conveyor buckets can be 
discharged at any point on the horizontal line by 
means of cams, called dumpers, which can be set to 
engage the cams at the ends of the buckets, tilting 
the buckets until they dump their load. Cast-iron 
buckets being heavy are apt to oscillate considerably 
after dumping unless the cams, on the bucket and on 
the dumper, are carefully shaped to retard any sway¬ 
ing motion. 

It is desirable to arrange the conveyor so that it 
can be operated under the attention of one man, most 
of whose time will be required at the loading point, 
since more or less supervision at this point is always 
necessary. For this reason, the levers controlling the 
discharge of the buckets on the upper line should be 
arranged to be operated from a lower floor, making 
it unnecessary for the attendant to climb to the upper 
line to control this portion of the work. As a matter 
of personal preference the writer likes to have the 
last dumper on the upper line always set to dump. 
This makes it almost impossible for the descending 
line of the conveyor to carry a load which might, 
should the up-moving line be unloaded, cause the 
conveyor to run away, overhauling the driving mech¬ 
anism and possibly causing great damage to the 


264 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Left: Slat conveyor, showing a method used to turn a corner. 

Right: Slat conveyor, showing the dummy end and how the conveyor passes over the sprocket 

wheels at the ends. 








CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


265 


machine and even a temporary shnt-down of the con¬ 
veyor. The words “ almost impossible ” are used be¬ 
cause it is possible that the last bin may be com¬ 
pletely full and the buckets can then carry (by scrap¬ 
ing,) enough material from the top of the pile to be 
full enough to cause the conveyor to overrun. A 
further method is that in which the drivers are 
equipped with solenoid brakes for the purpose of pre¬ 
venting the conveyor running backward or forward 
when the current is cut oft while the conveyor is at 
work. 

Endless Trough Conveyors. —By building the buck¬ 
ets without ends fore and aft of the conveyor, 
properly hinged and mounted in the conveyor chain, 
we have an endless trough conveyor which may be 
used for handling hot clinkers, hot cement, or hot 
coke. This type is usually mounted on wheels in the 
chain or sides of the trough sections. When so con¬ 
structed the buckets form the chain element as well 
as the receptacle element of the device. 

Buckets on Belts. —For certain work buckets are 
mounted directly upon a canvas or rubber belt, and 
this belt takes the place of the chains before men¬ 
tioned. The traction for driving this type of elevator 
is secured by the belt friction on a driving pulley 
which is located at the top of the lift. When this 
type of conveyor is used it is always used for steep 
inclined work. 

Elevator Buckets. —Buckets for conveyors of the 
type where the buckets are rigidly connected to the 
chain or belt are made so that the outer edge of the 


266 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


bucket, that is, the edge furtherest from the belt, is 
lower than the one attached to the belt or chain. 
The difference in level of the two edges and the shape 
of the bucket depends upon the material to be 
handled. It will readily be understood that a bucket 
for handling clay should have a much lower lip than 
the one intended for handling grain or other ma¬ 
terial. 

All sizes, from the tiny bucket about three inches 
wide and four inches long, up to those 24 inches long 
and 8 inches wide, can be obtained. Capacities 
run from 16 cubic inches up to very large buckets, 
36 by 9 inches, having a capacity of 1500 cubic inches. 
Buckets made of stamped steel, malleable iron, or 
with sheet steel bottoms and sides with malleable 
ends can be purchased in almost any desired shape, 
including the Y-shaped style. The small buckets are 
usually pressed steel, pressed out from one piece, 
while the large buckets may be built up of sheet metal 
with the necessary reinforcing at corners, and for 
heavy work with extra heavy or reinforced edges 
for the cutting face. 

It will be noted that these buckets when mounted 
upon a belt make a continuous form of carrier which 
can be loaded from a spout to the inclined elevator. 
The same effect can be secured by mounting the 
buckets on a chain so closely that they form a con¬ 
tinuous receptacle, in which case they may also be 
loaded from a spout to the inclined run of the con¬ 
veyor. Where the buckets are not placed close 
enough to form a continuous receptacle, they are filled 


CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 267 

by digging through the material; and to enable them 
to be tilled easily, they pass over a sprocket wheel 
mounted in a receptacle, usually called a “boot”, 
which receives its material from the uptake side of 
the conveyor. 

This type of bucket elevator is generally indicated 
if the material is to be lifted vertically and if the 
elevator either receives or discharges its load from 
or to a separate conveyor which carries the material 
horizontally. It is lower in first cost than the pivoted 



Continuous slat conveyor used as a conveyor and feeder from a 
coal pocket under a railroad track to a coal crusher which, in turn, 
feeds a bucket conveyor. This method insures regular and continu¬ 
ous quantities, a necessity for smooth operation of crushers and 

conveyors. (Link Belt Co.) 


bucket conveyors; it can be obtained for almost any 
desired capacity and for handling any material, and 
it runs at somewhat higher speed than the gravity 
bucket conveyors, depending upon local conditions 
and the material to be handled. From their construc¬ 
tion and their method of operation they are apt to be 
less durable than the pivoted bucket type, and are 
more durable, of course, when handling grain, very 

















































268 


Lionel S. Marks 
























CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


269 


fine coal, or similar material, than when handling 
broken stone. They are frequently used, however, for 
handling both coal and ashes as well as broken stone 
when their lower first cost and the small quantity to 
be handled makes them preferable. 

One of the difficulties in the use of this type of 
conveyor is the clogging of the material in the 
“boot”. This may result either in a stoppage of the 
machine and a breakage of some portion, or, in ex¬ 
treme cases, in the actual parting of the chain. This 
latter is very objectionable, for all of the chain is 
apt to pile up at the bottom of the elevator. Par¬ 
ticular care should be exercised, therefore, that the 
feed to the “boot” of the elevator shall protect as 
far as possible the machine from being fed with ma¬ 
terial that it cannot handle, or from too large quan¬ 
tities of its regular load, which may, from clogging 
the whole lower portion of the machine, produce a 
similar result. 

Conveyors that Push Their Loads. —There are but 
two forms of the conveyor that pushes its load that 
we need consider, the push plate conveyor and the 
screw conveyor. 

While it is probable that there will be but little 
need of a push plate conveyor, it is worth a brief 
mentioning. In construction it consists of a series of 
plates hinged at the top upon a rod, or rods, which, 
having a reciprocating forward and back motion, 
pushes the material through a trough. The plates, 
spaced from 18 to 36 inches apart, are attached from 
a bar above by a hinge that allows motion when 


270 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Flight conveyor carried on rollers. The construction of the chain, 
the method of attaching the flights, and of the overhead return 
of the conveyor are well shown. Note that good light, ample room 
and a walkway have been provided. (Link Belt Company) 

the bar moves backward. During the backward mo¬ 
tion of the conveyor the hinged sections pull through 
the material, while the forward motion pushes the 
material ahead. By proper arrangement of the 
trough, material may be dropped at any point along 
the line or may be discharged at the end. This type 
of conveyor is best adapted to moving light material 
which is not abrasive in its nature. 

Screw Conveyors. —Screw conveyors, sometimes 
called worm conveyors or helical conveyors, are used 
for pushing material comparatively short distances. 
They are subject to the criticism that they require 
considerable power for their operation and also that 






CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


271 



Two screw conveyors at right angles, arranged so that the load 
from the conveyor on the right is discharged directly into the con¬ 
veyor at the left. The power being transmitted from one screw 
shaft to the other by means of a link chain, sprockets, and level 

gears. (Jeffrey Mfg. Co.) 

since the material is pushed by the helical screw 
through a trough, the screw and the trough are sub¬ 
ject to wear from this direct scraping action. The 
cost of upkeep is therefore comparatively high, and 
this type of conveyor should not be selected where 
any considerable amount of abrasive material is to 
be handled without first considering the advantages 
of some other type of device. 

To the works manager their principal interest will 
probably be the possibility of their use as a feeding 
device for some other mechanism—such as a skip, 
elevator, or conveyor—or for the movement of rela- 







272 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 






'W- 

* 










¥ 





















Special chain conveyor hauling one-wheel trolleys on a suspended bar. 
Each trolley has a hook for carrying material, in this case parts of 
metalic bed frames. The conveyor passes around a horizontal 
sprocket wheel and returns empty on the runway in the background. 
Such a machine can be used for drying the articles while in transit. 

(Link Belt Co.) 


tively small quantities of non-abrasive material over 
short distances. 

Construction of Screws. —These conveyors operate 
in a semi-cylindrical trough and are made in various 
sizes from 4 to 18 inch diameter screws. The capacity 
is comparatively small, depending upon the speed of 
rotation of the screw, which may vary from 60 revolu¬ 
tion per minute of the larger to 120 revolutions per 
minute of the smaller screws, with a capacity, say, 
for a 9 inch screw at 150 revolutions per minute, of 
1000 bushels per hour. Screw conveyors can be 
made with either right or left hand turns. The heli- 


























CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


273 



Chain conveyor arranged to handle open boxes. Such a conveyor can 
be arranged to handle material in both directions alternately. This 
one is handling boxes of screws at the plant of the Harvey-Hubbell 

Co. (The Ramson Co.) 

cal screw is usually mounted upon a hollow pipe in 
standard lengths varying from 8 to 12 feet, and is 
usually supported above the trough by suspended 
bearings having split bearing boxes. The trough may 
be either a square wooden box, in which is supported 
a semi-cylindrical metallic sheet for wearing purposes, 
or the box can be constructed entirely of steel. 

In construction, the helical plates are usually built in 
a continuous spiral, although a spiral of short sec¬ 
tions, • instead of the continuous spiral, may be used. 










Speeds and Capacities of Screw Conveyors* 
(Lionel S. Marks’ Hand-Book) 


CO 

rH 

160 

5125 

85 

650 

o o 

co co 

80 

2000 

rH 

160 

2937 

1 - 

90 

390 

85 

47 

85 

1200 

CM 

rH 

160 

2181 

95 

290 

H|N 

o CO 
CD 00 

90 

930 

o 

rH 

165 

1206 

O ^ 
© t> 

r-H rH 

LO »“H 

CD CM 

95 

540 

CD 

170 

910 

8 8 
rH rH 

O CO 

rH 

rH 

100 

420 

00 

LO CM 
00 

r-H t>» 

O CM 

rH rH 

rH rH 

»H|CM 

LO CO 

O »-H 

rH 

105 

« 

360 

t>- 

175 

353 

LO CO 

rH LO 

rH 

H|C* 

O CO 

rH 

rH 

o o 

rH 00 

rH rH 

CO 

180 

244 

LO O 

CM 

rH 

• 

LO CO 

1-H CM 

H rH 

LO 

O LO 

CD 

r—1 r-H 

• 

• • 

• 


200 

73 

• 

• • 

• 

X 

• 

• 

00 

200 

34 

• 

• 

• 

Diameter of Screw, In. 

Max. r. p. m.. 

Cu. ft. per hr. 

Max. r. p. m. 

Bbls. per hr. 

r Max. r. p. m.. 

i 

Tons per hr... 

• • 

rH* J—' 

E ^ 

. u 

n, <u 

. ^ 

u 

• 

X 

co 

s <3 

a 

• rH 

CO 

u 

o 

Cement 

90 lbs. i 
p.cu. ft. 1 

u 

03 £ 12 

o B 

O V ** 

Sand, 

Gravel, 

Fine 

Ashes 


274 


For ribbon conveyors take one-third of the capacities given. 











































































CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


275 


The spirals are supported from the main shaft by 
having the helical screw connect with the shaft, or 
by leaving a gap between the inner edge of the helical 
screw and the shaft. This latter construction is called 
the ribbon type, a helical ribbon being supported by 
arms extending from the shaft. In either case the 
conveyors are all constructed of structural steel, al¬ 
though in handling sand, ashes, or other gritty ma¬ 
terial, some manufacturers recommend that these con¬ 
veyors be made of cast iron. In considering the use 
of conveyors of this type it will be well to see to it 
that they are ‘ ‘ get-at-able ’ ’ throughout their full 
length. 

The Link-Belt Company publishes the following 
information regarding capacities of screw conveyors 
at various speeds: 


Table of Capacities of Screw Conveyors 


(Link-Belt Company) 


Diameter 

in 

Inches 

Inside 

Diameter of 
Hollow 
Shaft in 
Inches 

Standard 
Length 
in Feet 

Revolutions 

Per 

Minute 

Capacity 
Per Hour in 
Bushels 

4 

1 

8 

100 

100 

6 

lj 

10 

140 

300 

9 

i§ 

10 

150 

1,000 

12 

2 

12 

160 

2,000 

14 

2 

12 

160 

3,000 

16 

3 

12 

160 

5,000 

18 

3 

12 

160 

6,000 















A single chain barrel conveyor. The plates on the conveyor are 
concave to hold the barrels steady while on the conveyor. Note the 
run off tracks and the return run of the conveyor. The workman in 
the foreground is just about to push the keg from the conveyor onto 
the runway in front of him. Due to the shape of the -kegs they 
will not roll off the two-rail runway. (Link Belt Co.) 

Trough Conveyors. —A form of conveyor that pulls 
its load through a trough is called the trough, flight 
or scraper conveyor. This type consists of a hauling 
element which in some cases is a wire rope hauling 
a circular disc through a semi-cylindrical steel-lined 
trough. Rope conveyors with discs thereon run at a 
speed of 100 to 125 feet per minute, the discs being 
spaced from eighteen to thirty-six inches apart. It 
may consist of one or two chains composed of malle¬ 
able iron or steel links, to which are supported the 
rectangular or other shaped steel flights for dragging 
the material. 


276 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 














CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


277 


The chain or rope is hauled through the trough by 
means of sprocket wheels, and the flights push the 
material ahead of them. The flights are usually made 
of sheet steel, although they can be made of malleable 
iron. The chain, or a lug on the chain, is generally 
arranged so as to slide along the top of the trough. 
In some cases, however, the chain has rollers or 
wheels which roll along the top of the trough and 
cut down the friction. 

This type of conveyor has comparatively high 
power requirements. It is more suitable to the hand¬ 
ling of material in small loads and of a character 
that will not get into and cut the wearing parts of the 
chain, as well as to wear out the flights and trough 
rapidly. The plates on the chain are spaced ordi¬ 
narily from 18 to 36 inches apart. The chain may run 
at speeds varying from 50 to 180 feet per minute; 
the more fragile the material and more detrimental 
the breakage, the slower the speed. Methods of sup¬ 
porting these flights to the chain and the shapes of 
the flights are so numerous that is seems unwise to 
go into detail other than to say that almost any size 
of flight from 4 by 10 up to 12 by 36 inches can be 
secured. These conveyors are manufactured by many 
companies, the chain flights and troughs being de¬ 
signed for the work to be done and for almost any 
desired combination. 

All of the trough types of conveyor permit the use 
of valves on the bottom of the trough, which will 
allow the discharge of the load at any predetermined 
* point. Various types of opening, from the direct- 


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CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


279 


operated plane slide up to the slide operated by 
means of a rack and pinion can be purchased. The 
slide may move at right angles to the trough or 
parallel to the motion of the conveyor; this is usually 
determined by the most convenient location of the 
operating lever or chain which controls the operation 
of the slide. 

Slack in Conveyors. —In use all conveyors lengthen 
from wear, and, especially in the case of stretching 
in belts, provision must be made at some point in the 
conveying line to make adjustment therefore. Con¬ 
veyors that are loaded on the incline spouts usually are 
arranged so that the bottom sprocket may be ad¬ 
justed. Those filling with the “boot”, the take-up 
may be arranged as an integral part of the “boot” 
construction or at the head bearing. 

Ramps.—Ramps may be described as moving plat¬ 
forms. They are sometimes horizontal, but their most 
frequent use is on inclines, and are generally used for 
handling freight at docks and terminals. By loading 
the packages directly on to the platforms of the ramp, 
or by running wheel trucks on to the ramps, depend¬ 
ing upon the motion of the ramps to convey the 
trucks and. their loads to their destination, they can 
be used to advantage in factories. Their greatest 
purpose is to reduce the work of moving loads up 
grades. They run slowly, about as fast as a man 
would walk, say three miles an hour. They are often 
used in factories where material would otherwise be 
trucked by hand up grades. 

In reality, ramps are a form of chain conveyor 



Chain conveyor, for handling boxes on floor level. Note the three 
parallel lines of separate chains forming one conveyor, by means of 
these three l'ines boxes of various sizes can be readily moved. The 
third box is a short one and is supported by but two of the chains. 

(Jeffrey Mfg. Co.) 

furnished with platforms instead of buckets. These 
platforms are generally made of wood equipped with 
plates rnr cross bars to ensure sound footing for the 
workmen and to prevent the loads from sliding. 
Sometimes they are fitted with depressions for receiv¬ 
ing the wheels of the trucks. 

Where hand trucking is an essential element and 
where steep grades must be overcome, ramps will 
be found a most useful device. But where power 
trucking, with electrical industrial trucks or electric 


280 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 










CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


281 



Ramp, or inclined elevator, handling freight at the Pere Marquette 
Railroads Terminal Warehouse at Detroit, Michigan. The cogs on 
the chain engage with the axles of the two-wheeled trucks and while 
a man must accompany his truck, the work of pushing the load up 
hill is done by the conveyor. (Otis Elevator Co.) 

transveyors, is used, the utility of ramps will he 
limited to very steep grades where for some local 
reason they are preferable to the vertical platform 
elevator. The width and length of these ramps can 
be made to suif the requirements. The escalator, some¬ 
times called a moving staircase, is a modification of 
this device and is employed for conveying people in¬ 
stead of material. 

Movable Platforms. —Movable platforms are chain 
conveyors equipped with flat platforms attached to 
the links of the chain. The top of the conveyor, form¬ 
ing the platform, may be of any desired type. And 
when suitably designed this form of device will make 










282 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



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CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


283 


the moving element which is an essential feature in 
continuous assembly. Continuous assembly requires 
that some means be employed for moving the assem¬ 
bly continuously as the various parts are attached, 
therefore some form of conveying mechanism is a 
necessity for this purpose and the movable platform 
has been found to answer the purpose excellently. 
Moving platforms may also be used for handling all 
kinds of articles, both loose and in containers, be¬ 
tween buildings in a factory. By building the con¬ 
veyor of suitable size and strength almost any reason¬ 
able weight or size of package can be handled. 

Before installing this type of apparatus one should 
take into consideration especially the handling of 
material to and from the conveyor at the terminals; 
because it may be found that while the platform con¬ 
veyor will move the material from point to point 
more cheaply than any other device, the expense of 
loading and unloading may be so great that the use 
of hand trucks or power trucks will be more eco¬ 
nomical. 

Package Elevators. —Conveyors built with chains to 
support bucket arms, platforms, and so on, may be 
put to the wide variety of uses. Many devices fur¬ 
nished with arms of all shapes have been worked out 
to handle almost any kind of package, whether box, 
bag, barrel, or what not. They have been tried even 
for the hoisting of water, and the general statement 
that they can be arranged to handle anything is 
reasonably true. Where such an elevator is con¬ 
sidered, the quantity of the material to be moved and 


284 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Left: Discharge end of a vertical elevator for packages. The package is received on the extended 
fingers of the curved chute, tilts forward and slides forward on the inclined chute. 

Right : Inclined package elevator between two lines of roller gravity conveyors. The packages roll 
from the gravity conveyor in the foreground onto the curved fingers of the incline and are pushed 
up and discharged onto another roller conveyor. (Both built by Mathews Gravity Carrier Co.) 











CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


285 


relative economy of tlie special case should he care¬ 
fully studied. 

I believe that illustrations are better than descrip¬ 
tions of these constructions, and will only add that 
the devices have been worked out so that they can 
be automatically loaded and that their load can be 
automatically dumped either at the top of the lift or 
at various heights on the vertical run. When neces- 
sary the conveyors can be equipped with devices for 
opening and closing doors where the conveyor or 
elevator passes through from floor to floor or from 
room to room. 

By mounting slats upon these links, we have a slat 
conveyor. By mounting flat plates, we have a plat¬ 
form conveyor. By swinging pivotally connected 
platforms between the chains, we have a vertical plat¬ 
form elevator. 

General Uses of Carrier Conveyors. —It will be seen 
from the preceding pages that conveyors with recep¬ 
tacles, slats, or platforms can be secured for handling 
almost any form of either bulk or package material. 
Where there is lifting to be done of any considerable 
amount or up steep grades one of the chain type of 
conveyors will be preferable to a belt conveyor. For 
horizontal transmission and up slight inclines for 
reasonable unit loads the belt conveyor will be found 
very satisfactory. 

For Elevating Long Articles. —Chain conveyors are 
frequently constructed of two parallel and separate 
line of links running over sprocket wheels for lifting 
long articles such as timber. The chains are usually 


286 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



’ 

■At? HI 




j Tp 


mi-' 





l 

Wf 

f X 

i aipi " "I""' 

; 





L ' 



Above: Double rolls, staggered, to give additional support to material. 
Below: Roller conveyor with guard rails at the sides. (Mathews 

Gravity Carrier Co.) 












































CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


287 


spaced nearly as far apart as the length of the 
shortest timber to be handled, and the links are fitted 
with arms which automatically pick up the timber at 
the bottom and deliver it at the top of the conveyor. 
This is, of course, one of the many modifications of 
the chain conveyor to specific work. With these con¬ 
veyors the timber may be received from and delivered 
to power roller conveyors or to gravity roller con- 
vevors. Locomotive cranes and other cranes can be 
employed for loading and taking the material from 
the conveyors and so can many other transporting 
devices. 

Gravity Roller Conveyors. —A type of conveyor 
known as gravity roller conveyors-ake used frequently 
and with great economy for moving packages, espe¬ 
cially articles uniform in size and with at least one 
smooth surface. By smooth surface is meant a sur¬ 
face that will not catch on the rollers which consti¬ 
tute the conveyor. The conveyor proper consists of 
horizontal rollers supported at the ends on roller 
bearings running either upon a shaft extending clear 
through the roller or upon studs at both ends, these 
axles or studs being supported in turn on both sides 
by a steel strip or frame. The frame inclines down¬ 
ward in the direction toward which the material is 
to be carried, and the material is moved by rolling 
from one roller to the next. The degree of slope de¬ 
pends upon the weight of the articles to be moved and 
their shape, generally from two to four per cent— 
i.e., a drop of two or four feet in a hundred feet of 
length. 



288 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: Gravity roller conveyor used for continuous crating opera¬ 
tion. From the assembly room the engines are placed on skids on 
the conveyor and are boxed as they pass along to the shipping-room. 

(Lamson Company.) 

Below: Gravity conveyor and lift, loading brick into box cars. Note 
that the whole apparatus is portable, and there is no labor between 
the storage end to the box car. (Mathews Gravity Carrier Company.) 

































CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


289 


Roller conveyors are usually made up in standard 
lengths, arranged so that they can he coupled to¬ 
gether, and supported either from structural frames, 
from overhead hangers, or from side brackets on the 
wall. There is no definite limit to the distances for 
which these conveyors can be used, except the vertical 
height which is necessary to secure the proper drop 
so that the material will flow forward. Where suffi¬ 
cient height is not obtainable for one continuous run, 
a chain elevator is often employed to received the 
packages or articles at the lower end of the first run 
and to lift them and deliver them to the top of an¬ 
other gravity roller conveyor which will convey them 
to their destination. Such an arrangement can be 
made which will automatically receive and discharge 
the packages, thereby insuring a complete trip from 
start to destination of the package without any atten¬ 
tion from operators, the package when placed on the 
conveyor running along by gravity to the end of the 
first rollway, being received by the chain elevator and 
automatically lifted and discharged to the second 
rollway which carries it to its destination. 

Economy of Operation. —As frequently stated, the 
cost of unloading and loading any of the transporta¬ 
tion devices is one of the big elements in the cost of 
operation. Therefore when considering the applica¬ 
tion of gravity roller conveyors the device should be 
made to provide, where possible, a storage for a fluc¬ 
tuation in the receipt and delivery of material and to 
be so located that the handling at both terminals be 
induced to a minimum. 



290 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Roller conveyor handling castings from a bank of multiple drills to the next operation at the 
works of the Buick Motor Company, Flint, Mich. Note that the castings are not boxed or crated 
but roll on their own surfaces. When the castings are to be held for inspection or the flow 
stopped, it is done by the method shown at the right hand end of the conveyor—a curved plate is 
dropped over two rollers and the castings are held at this point. (Matthews Gravity Carrier Co.) 













CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


291 


The use of gravity roller conveyors should he con¬ 
sidered for the movement of parts from machine to 
machine in manufacturing. In some cases they may 
he used to particular advantage in the assembly de¬ 
partment. The portable nature of the apparatus often 
permits a few sections to be used to great advantage 
in a variety of other operations in the plant. They 
should also receive serious consideration where it is 
necessary to move a large number of uniform pack¬ 
ages from one machine or from one room to a general 
storage or shipping platform. I have seen them used 
to great advantage for handling boxes of canned 
products from the boxing machines to the shipping 
platforms. 

Construction. —Roller conveyors are made in vari¬ 
ous sizes and almost any width of conveyor can 
be purchased. The sizes most frequently employed 
run from 12 to 24 inches in width. The rollers, 
about 2 V 2 inches in diameter, are made of steel tub¬ 
ing, with roller bearings pressed into the ends of the 
tube, and are placed about five inches apart, center 
to center, with the axles carried on angles or plates 
as the details suggest. The conveyor is manufactured 
in unit sections of about 10 feet long, so arranged that 
they can be readily attached at the ends to other sec¬ 
tions, either straight or curved. This construction 
permits the machine to be either fixed or portable. 

In order to carry material around a curve, curved 
unit sections are manufactured to be attached to the 
standard straight sections, and these curved sections 
can be introduced anywhere in the line between two 



292 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Roller conveyors, roller gravity spiral chute, and an ordinary sliding chute are here shown. 
The roller conveyor in the foreground carries the package around a 90° curve. The sliding 
chute delivers packages from the floor above to the spiral roller gravity chute, which in turn 
delivers them onto the straight roller conveyor in the background. Notice the cross conveyor in 
lower left hand corner of the illustration. (Mathews Gravity Carrier Co.) 













CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


293 


standard sections. The curved sections, for the 
smaller sizes, liave a radius of approximately 4 feet, 
and in order that packages will pass around them 
without undue side friction and will track properly 
on the straight receiving section, the rollers are made 
conical with the smaller diameter toward the center 
of the curve. 

For handling very long material, the construction 
is modified by omiting a large number of rollers, the 
number required depending upon the length and 
weight of the articles moved. 

Power Roller Conveyor. —While power roller con¬ 
veyors are not of frequent use in the ordinary manu¬ 
facturing establishments, their use in steel rolling 
mills and in the handling of lumber makes them a 
device worthy of mention. The work which they are 
to perform is usually so special that no generalization 
of sizes and speeds will he attempted, except to say 
that almost any desired speed of motion can he ob¬ 
tained and almost any load can be supported which 
is uniform in section and weight. 

The device consists of a series of horizontal rollers 
of a diameter suitable for the load, spaced with a 
view to the length of the article to be moved. In 
ordinary practice, each of the rollers is driven through 
bevel gearing from a shaft running at the end of the 
rollers. This shaft is generally driven by an electric 
motor and can run in either direction; the conveyor 
will therefore transport its load both ways. The 
conveyor being power driven will operate either 
horizontally or on slight inclines. 



294 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Gravity Spiral Roller Chutes. —An outgrowth of the 
gravity roller conveyor is applied to the spiral gravity 
chute, thereby permitting the handling of material 
down smaller inclines than does the sliding method, 
due to the lower friction involved. It is in effect a 
spiral curve constructed in a similar manner to the 
curved section of the gravity roller conveyors. It 
has an advantage from the fact that packages of uni¬ 
form size and weight can be prevented from motion 
by a full line of material ahead on the chute, and 
when this full line fleets forward the material on the 
gravity roller chute will move ahead without atten¬ 
tion. This permits the use of a spiral gravity roller 
chute in connection with the straight lines of the 
roller conveyors and allows the whole system to be 
used as a storage reservoir in case of need. 

In selecting a spiral roller gravity chute the manu¬ 
facturer should be consulted as to the size and the 
pitch. It is necessary to select these with reference 
to the packages to be moved, because packages usu¬ 
ally move long end on, and if the chute is not the 
proper size and pitch they may turn and bind against 
the side guides of the spiral. 

Plain Chutes. —For handling bulk material chutes 
of sheet iron or steel are frequently used, the angle 
at which these spouts must incline from the horizon¬ 
tal varying with the character of the material, its size, 
and whether or not it is moist or sticky. For coal 
and similar material, where there is sufficient head- 
room, an incline of 45 per cent is entirely safe; for 
while such material will slide over smooth surfaces 


CONVEYORS AND ELEVATORS 


295 


at smaller angles, it is wise to approach 40 or 45 per 
cent where possible. But when the headroom is 
limited, the safest way is to experiment with the ma¬ 
terial, both wet and dry. It is a reasonably fair as¬ 
sumption that the material will flow over a smooth 
iron surface at about the same angle as it will have 
in a pile, that is, the angle of repose. If an incline 
of 5 or 10 degrees more than this can be secured, it 
is an added certainty for successful continuous move¬ 
ment of the material; but as said before, where the 
headroom is restricted and an experiment can be 
made, such experimentation is advisable. 


CHAPTER XVII 


MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 

Hulett Unloader. —A type of apparatus used for 
unloading vessels, particularly iron ore from the 
Great Lakes cargo-carrying ships, is the so-called 
Hulett Unloader. This machine is very large, very 
heavy, and is high in its first cost, but it has, how¬ 
ever, an enormous unloading capacity, from 500 to 
1000 tons per hour being within its range, and the 
buckets have a capacity of from 10 to 15 tons. 

The unloader consists of a tower, movable along the 
wharf, supporting a carriage which moves on the 
tower at right angles to the run thereof and carries 
a pivoted arm from which is suspended a vertical 
arm, on the lower end of which an enormous self-clos¬ 
ing bucket is rigidly supported. This bucket is some¬ 
thing like a clam-shell bucket in principle; that is, 
the two enormous scoops are drawn together in clos¬ 
ing about the load. In operation, the bucket is filled, 
the pivoted arm is lifted upwards, the carriage on 
which it is mounted runs inboard, and the grab drops 
its load into a hopper from which it is hauled by a 
car, working in unison with the hoisting apparatus, 
still further inboard and dumped on the storage pile. 
As a further economy, where this type of apparatus 
is used, large rehandling bridge cranes fitted with 

296 


MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 297 


grab buckets pick up the material from the point at 
which it is dumped, as mentioned above, and dis¬ 
tribute it over the storage area. The same bridge 
cranes then serve to reclaim the material when 
needed. 

One feature in connection with the Hulett unloader 
is especially unique, for in order that the operator 
may secure the best results by being in a position to 
see just the work his grab is doing his cab is usually 
located in the swinging arm directly above the grab. 

This device, of the highest economic value in hand¬ 
ling large quantities of bulk material from large 
vessels, is one of greater interest to the large term¬ 
inal companies handling ore and coal than to the 
ordinary manufactury. It is seen in use on the Great 
Lakes where the short season of water transportation 
makes rapid unloading of the vessels imperative. 

Steam Shovels. —Steam shovels may sometimes be 
used to great advantage in reclaiming coal from stor¬ 
age piles, especially so where the pile has been made 
by automatic railways, cable railways, or conveyors. 
But such an apparatus is a highly specialized ma¬ 
chine. It cannot be used for building the storage 
piles, as can locomotive crane or bridge crane hand¬ 
ling a grab bucket and this limitation in manufac¬ 
turing establishments means that the machine has 
but one use, that of reclaiming 'the material. It has 
the advantage, however, that it has a great reclaim¬ 
ing capacity. 

Steam shovels are built of steel and are usually 
operated by steam from a boiler mounted on the 



298 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Hulett Unloader on the Lake Front. This machine is principally for unloading ore from lake 
vessels and has an enormous capacity. The device moves along the wharf on the three-rail track 
on the right, and deposits its load far enough back to be reached by the large bridge cranes. Do 
not confuse the small locomotive crane in the foreground with the main device. 


















MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 299 


frame. The shovel operates by the action of a dipper 
mounted on a rigid arm which is supported by an 
adjustable boom. Wire ropes, operated by the hoist¬ 
ing engine, haul this dipper in the arc of a circle 
upward through the pile. As The main boom 
is mounted on a horizontal turntable, it can work 
through a horizontal circle of about 180 degrees. In 
some cases the lower superstructure is mounted in 
a manner to permit the device to work through the 
whole circular area about the track. 

These shovels work very rapidly, two or three trips 
a minute being common. They are unloaded by trip¬ 
ping the hinged bottom of the dipper which allows the 
load to spill through into a vehicle for removal. They 
are made in many sizes, from a half a cubic yard up 
to five or six cubic yards in capacity. Steam shovels 
are usually mounted on car wheels so as to run on 
standard gauge railroad tracks; and where the coal 
is to be removed by such railway cars, the steam 
shovel is probably the most convenient method of re¬ 
claiming the coal from the pile to the railroad cars. 
Where this would require a great amount of track¬ 
age, or where the material is to be carried away by 
power or by other trucks, the caterpiller type of sup¬ 
port may be an advantage in place of mounting the 
device on railway trucks. This construction permits 
the machine to run anywhere on the storage area 
without reference to trackage, and may be to decided 
advantage in some cases. 

While the larger sizes may be occasionally advis¬ 
able, it is probable that the half-yard to one yard grab 


300 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: Steam shovel locomotive crane excavating earth. 
Below: Locomotive crane with steam shovel attachment loading 
cars. Dumping is controlled by tripping the 
hinged back of the dipper. 
















MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 301 



Above: Steam shovel loading cars in a stone quarry. (Osgood Co.) 

Below: Special steam shovel mounted on tracks on special cars and 
arranged to transfer these tracks and propel itself. (Browning Co.) 














302 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

will give an ample capacity; say, from 20 to 50 tons 
per hour. This capacity will meet the average re¬ 
quirement for such equipment in a manufacturing 
establishment. 

Drag Line Rigs. —The so-called “drag line rig” or 
bucket scraper carries buckets made of sheet steel 
which are so shaped that when hauled over the pile 
of material by overhead wire ropes, they fill with 
the material. The buckets are then hoisted and con¬ 
veyed by the overhead ropes which lead from pulleys 
at both ends of the run to an engine which operates 
the rig. When the bucket and its load reach their 
destination one rope is slackened, or a catch is re¬ 
leased, and the load dumps, the bucket then being 
hauled hack for a new load. 

This apparatus is low in first cost and is particu¬ 
larly useful for building storage piles of more or less 
temporary character, that is, where a large extra 
reserve supply may he advisable in view of a threat¬ 
ened shortage. It has also an advantage in that it 
is comparatively easy to move the device to a new 
location. 

Various sizes and designs are made to suit the ma¬ 
terial to be handled. It is rarely the case that loads 
of more than one ton are required about factories, 
hence a rig equipped to handle buckets of one-third 
or one-half to one ton will meet all ordinary condi¬ 
tions. The larger the load the heavier will be the 
ropes, the engine, and all supports, and for temporary 
work preference may well be given to the smaller 
sizes. 


MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 303 



Above: The steam shovel with drag line rig is fitted with a half¬ 
yard scraper bucket. Gantry crane in the background (Osgood Co.) 

Below: Drag line excavator at work on ihe Calumet Canal. The 
bucket is shown in the dumping position. (Marion Steam Shovel Co.) 








304 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Left: Locomotive crane used as a drag line rig for handling long poles. The large area served 
from the track in the foreground illustrates the utility of the method. 

Right: Scraper bucket used for reclaiming ore from large storage piles. When it reaches the top 
of the pile it hangs vertically from the trolley, is moved horizontally and dumps automatically at 
the discharge point. (Both installations by Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 






















MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 305 



Scraper (drag line) buckets are used to scrape up the side of a pile 
as shown in the opposite illustration. Note that they are made very 
heavy and strong to withstand hard uses, as in this bucket, by the 
construction of the bale, the reinforced corners, etc. They are fre¬ 
quently fitted with teeth which are reinforced, and with automatic 
dumping attachment which releases the catch when striking the 
dumping Block. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 


Reloaders.—Reloaders are devices used for reclaim¬ 
ing bulk material from storage piles which are not 
commanded by an overhead crane fitted with a grab 
bucket or some other method of reclaiming from the 
top of the pile. The most frequent use for a reloader 
is for taking material up from the surface level of 
a storage pile and depositing it into cars or trucks 
for removal. They are designed to handle all kinds 
of bulk material, including coal, sand, gravel, and 
broken stone. 

The machine is mounted on wheels to make it 
portable, and for this reason the buckets on the con¬ 
veyor chain are usually comparatively small, some¬ 
thing like 18 inches long and 6 or 8 inches wide. 





306 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Due to the size of the buckets there is a limit to 
the size of lumps of the material that can be handled, 
and when considering the handling of run of mine 
coal this fact must be borne in mind. The buckets 
as ordinarily used are made of steel, but when hand¬ 
ling refractory material the lips of the buckets are 
lined with heavier or more resistant steel. 

The ordinary size of reloader has a capacity of one 
to one and a-lialf cubic yards a minute; but as there 
are always delays in bringing up the vehicle or car 
to the loading point and in the removal of the loaded 
car, the full working capacity of the reloading device 
cannot be maintained continuously. 

Reloaders are made and equipped with gasolene 
engines or with electric motors for both direct and 
alternating currents. In purchasing a machine of 
this type, I should recommend that it should be self- 
propelling, as it is constantly moved from place to 
place and also works forward as it reclaims the coal. 
The motors used are generally from five to seven 
and a-half horsepower. 

In manufacturing establishments this machine, as 
I view it, is most useful as an auxiliary device for 
reclaiming bulk material from emergency storage 
piles, or where the storage is in several places, and 
also as an auxiliary to the general material hand¬ 
ling installation. The machine was developed largely 
for the use of coal dealers to save them the expense 
of hand-shovelling from storage piles in their yards 
to their delivery wagons for delivery to retail 
customers. 


MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 307 



Scraper bucket operated from a bridge crane. The method employed 
by scraper bucket and drag line rigs when filling the buckets is well 
shown. The bucket has been drawn up the side of the pile and is 
completely filled. The bucket shown is operated from a crane simi¬ 
lar to the one in the background. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 

The construction is entirely of metal, consisting 
of a steel frame mounted on four wheels, two of 
which can be driven by the motive power, thereby 
making the machine self-propelling. The frame sup¬ 
ports a chain conveyor on which are mounted steel 
buckets. This conveyor is mounted on an arm which 
usually is pivoted at the top where the conveyor is 
driven by a sprocket wheel through chain gearing 
from the motor. The arm supporting the conveyor 
being pivoted on the top, permits the conveyor to be 
moved into the coal pile as the conveyor eats its 
way into the coal. The load picked up in this man- 









308 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


ner is discharged over the top of this arm through 
a spout which is usually about eight or nine feet 
high at the delivery end. This spout can be fitted 
with a screen to separate the material as it passes 
to the vehicle. 

There is usually some spill in the use of this type 
of conveyor and the machine is frequently equipped 
with an apron which directs the spilled material back 
to the front of the pile. It may be interesting to 
know that some of these machines are so constructed 
that the conveyor and its arm can be lowered to a 
horizontal position when being moved from place 
to place. 

Platform Elevators.—While there are several types 
of platform elevators, such as the hydraulic elevators, 
the direct plunger elevator, and the rope-geared 
elevator, the electric and belt driven types are the 
ones that are most frequently used in factory hand¬ 
ling problems. 

Platform elevators are very useful in moving pack¬ 
age material or loaded trucks, hand or power driven, 
from floor to floor in factory buildings. It seems that 
no matter how thoroughly the handling systems are 
worked out these devices have a distinct and uni¬ 
versal utility in all large factories. They should 
always be provided for or a place reserved for their 
future installation and, without being greedy, it is 
well to allow for a large platform size, at least ten 
by twelve feet and more if possible. 

The belt-driven type of platform elevator, the uni¬ 
versal rig of a decade or so ago, has been largely 


MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 309 



Above: Reloader shown at its usual work loading trucks from a 

storage pile. (Haiss Mfg. Co.) 

Below: Reloader handling coal from drop bottom railroad car to 
truck. In this use of the machine some of the coal must be shoveled 
up to the conveyor buckets. (Link Belt Co.) 













310 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


superseded by the electric driven device. Belt driven 
elevators can now be used to advantage in many 
cases, but the flexibility of the electric current leads 
one to think of the electric drive where practical. 
Both types are similar; the platform is hoisted and 
lowered by ropes, has automatic stops at top and 
bottom, and safety catches to prevent accidental fall¬ 
ing of the car. In one case the machinery is driven 
by a belt from the line shaft, and in the other by an 
electric motor. The electric elevator for freight pur¬ 
poses is usually equipped with a worm-gear reduc¬ 
tion and winds the lifting ropes on a grooved cylin¬ 
drical drum. The weight of the platform and cage 
is usually partially counterweighted. 

Where high speeds and passenger service are con¬ 
sidered, of course, the hydraulic elevator, the electric 
gear-driven drum elevator and the electric traction 
drive type must be considered. These types can 
attain high speeds, the maximum satisfactory speed 
being considered at present as about 700 feet per 
minute. For the work of handling material, the 
elevators preferably run at low speeds—from 50 to 
150 feet per minute, particularly where several floors 
are to be served. It is more important to be able 
to line up the platform with the floor than to attain 
high speeds, as more time can be lost in this align¬ 
ment than can be saved by the high speed. This is 
particularly important where trucks are used, and 
this is generally the case. The capacity of the 
elevator depends on the work it has to do. The sizes 
in common use range from one to five tons. 


MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 311 


One use of the platform elevator, it is well to 
bear in mind, is the emergency service in large 
boiler houses where the coal is stored above the 
boilers and where stokers are used. A vertical plat¬ 
form elevator installed at one end of the boiler house 
will permit handling the coal and ashes by cars or 
wheelbarrows in case of breakdown of the regular 
coal and ash handling apparatus. Unless one has seen 
the confusion when ash bins and runways till up with 
ash and the coal supply is running out, the need ot 
some auxiliary device can hardly be appreciated. It 
is possible to obtain a platform elevator very low in 
first cost, and this is suitable for the purpose. Such 
an elevator uses either boiler pressure or a tank of 
water that operates a hydraulic piston to lift the 
platform. 

Whenever possible, it is well to load platform 
elevators from one side and discharge the load at 
the other side, thus permitting more rapid work and 
avoiding confusion and delay at the various floors 
served by the elevator. When traffic becomes heavy, 
this confusion is a serious matter. In planning an 
elevator layout care should be exercised to secure 
sufficient space in front of the elevator way to enable 
trucks to stand and to pass each other. I have seen 
cases where too little room has caused large wastes 
in the time of the men handling the trucks, because 
of the confusion a heavy volume of traffic had made 
at the elevator, particularly in those installations 
where the platform is loaded and unloaded from the 
same side. 


312 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Every freight elevator should automatically close 
and lock a gate when leaving a floor. 

Tiering Machines.—Tiering machines are devices 
for piling up packages, boxes, barrels, or baled ma¬ 
terial, and they are most useful in accomplishing 
such work when it must be done from the floor level. 
As they are portable machines they can be used on 
any floor of a storage building. And where material 
in large quantities is to remain for a long time in 
storage warehouses, or where the bulk of the material 
requires a large cubic space, they may under certain 
conditions be more economical than overhead cranes. 
The usual heights to which these machines will pile 
material is from eight to twelve feet. 

There.are several forms of tiering machines in com¬ 
mon use. In one the package is lifted vertically on 
a platform which is usually equipped with rollers, 
and when the material has reached the proper height 
it is rolled off and on to the top of another similar 
package. Another type, instead of lifting the pack¬ 
age platform vertically, hauls it up an incline. Still 
another type lifts the package vertically and permits 
it to be revolved around a vertical axis. 

The machines can be purchased either for hand 
operation through cranks and gearing or for opera¬ 
tion by electric motors through suitable gear reduc¬ 
tions. In my opinion, electric operation is more 
economical and generally preferable. 

The use of tiering machines is indicated whenever 
a large amount of material is to be piled which is not 
commanded by an overhead crane. The same ma- 


MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 313 

chine is also used for lowering the packages. As 
there is a certain amount of movement by hand from 
the platform of the tiering machine to the piles and 
vice versa, the loads that can be handled in this way 
are limited to those which workmen can move with 
reasonable facility, and for this reason they are not 
suitable for handling very heavy packages. They till 
an intermediate need, between that in which the 
packages can be easily handled by one man and that 
which requires an overhead crane. They have the 
added utility of permitting the storage of compara¬ 
tively small packages to a height which men could 
not easily accomplish without one or more transfers. 

Skip Hoists .—Skip hoists are used for elevating 
bulk material, usually from a hopper under a rail¬ 
road car to a storage bin, or to blast furnaces, or to 
some conveying device at the top of the skipway. 
They are very rapid machines and have a large ca¬ 
pacity; the speed of hoisting can be any desired one 
that can be attained in the height, say from 500 to 
1,000 feet per minute. 

The buckets used in skip hoists hold anywhere 
from one to five tons or even more. The use of this 
device is indicated wherever a large amount of ma¬ 
terial is to be lifted and then conveyed long distances, 
or where the needs are similar to blast furnace 
requirements. 

Skip hoists consist of a receptacle, which is usually 
nearly square, made of sheet metal and mounted on 
two sets of wheels, running on rails and carried in 
the structural steel tower that forms a runway for 


314 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

them. This tower may be either vertical or inclined; 
in the latter case the incline is usually from 60 de¬ 
grees from the horizontal to a vertical lift. 

Steam or electric hoisting engines are used to hoist 
the bucket, which is filled at the lower level by 
gravity from bins and through special valves and 
spouts. Wire rope, either single or double, is used 
to hoist the bucket. As the bucket reaches the 
top of the hoist it dumps its load by partially over¬ 
turning,—that is, the front of the bucket rolls for¬ 
ward while the back continues its upward motion. 
This movement is obtained by running the forward 
wheels in a track or between guides to produce the 
overturning effect. 

Skip hoists are made to hoist either a single bucket 
or two buckets. In the former case the bucket is 
counterweighted to reduce the power requirements, 
the counterweight running in guides in the tower 
frame. Where two skips are used one counterbal¬ 
ances the other,—one goes up as the other comes 
down, thereby avoiding the delay incident to the 
operation of the single skip type. This construc¬ 
tion gives a much greater handling capacity at little 
additional cost. 

Single skip hoists, operated either by steam or 
electric motor, can be equipped with friction brakes 
for hoisting the load and lowering it, or with revers¬ 
ing engines or motors. But in operating double 
skips, the motors must be of the reversing type. 

For precautionary measures it is well to see that 
if the operator overrun, there is room for the skip 


MISCELLANEOUS HOISTS AND CONVEYORS 315 


above the dumping point and below the head sheave, 
also to have an automatic cutout or stop to prevent 
extreme overruning. The operator should be located 
so that he can see the skip while it is being filled;— 
levers are often arranged so that he can not only 
operate his engines but control the valves filling the 
skips. This is in the line of economy. 

Some manufacturers make their skips so that they 
will work automatically. When this is satisfactorily 
done the constant attendance of the operator is not 
a necessity. Neverthless I have an old-fashioned 
feeling that with devices as large and of the char¬ 
acter of skips it is well to have an attendant on the 
job, even if he is not always at the levers. 

Skip hoists are indicated wherever there is a 
large amount of bulk material to be hoisted between 
two fixed points, and where the upper point is con¬ 
siderably higher than and approximately over the 
lower point. 



CHAPTER XVIII 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 

Lifting Magnets.—Tlie electric lifting magnet has 
been developed to a high state of efficiency in the 
past 15 years. It is one of the great labor savers 
and speed producers in handling ferrous metals, and 
in its field has done what the grab bucket has accom¬ 
plished in handling bulk material; that is, it has al¬ 
most eliminated hand labor. These magnets, usually 
circular, have been developed into rugged dependable 
tools. They are made in commercial sizes from 18 
inches in diameter to 60 inches in diameter, weigh¬ 
ing from 1,000 to 6,600 pounds, and may be pur¬ 
chased complete ready for use for lifting any ma¬ 
terial of ferrous nature. The larger sizes, from 43 
inches to 60 inches, are generally more economical 
than the small 18 and 24-incli sizes. 

The lifting capacity depends on the nature of the 
load lifted, and it is difficult to give a standard. It 
is obvious that a given magnet will lift a larger mass 
with flat machined surface than it will of scrap sheets 
or rough sandy pig iron. 

In actual operation the lifting capacity varies 
greatly, due to the character of material lifted. An 
electric, magnet that will lift a 12,000 pound skull 
cracker or 20,000 pounds of billets may only lift 200 

316 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


317 


pounds of loose tin scrap. Lifting magnets can be 
purchased with a capacity for lifting steel billets of 
25 tons, which is far beyond the ordinary require¬ 
ments of most factories. But the factory manager 
can be confident of securing one that will lift any 
of the articles that he must move. A given magnet 
has a certain magnetic capacity, and will lift all of 
the metal that this energy will hold. It is not usually 
of great importance what the maximum load that 
can be carried is, as almost all practical work around 
factories will be in handling loads ranging from 500 
pounds to 1,500 pounds. As the magnets are so fre¬ 
quently used in the same factory to handle a great 
variety of shapes, sizes and weights, the magnet 
should be selected with a view to its doing the ma¬ 
jority of its work well within its capacity and be 
large enough to do the exceptionally heavy occa¬ 
sional lift. 

The magnets are readily controlled from the cab of 
a crane, or telpher, and so delicately that they will 
drop one sheet of metal at a time from a load of a 
number of sheets, if this be required. The head 
room required varies from three and one half to four 
feet in the ordinary sizes. 

Direct current is necessary,—220 volts being the 
usual and preferable voltage, although magnets can 
be wound for 110 volts. The average current re¬ 
quired depends on the work to be done, and varies 
from 10 to 47 amperes at 220 volts. This is of more 
value in figuring about what the power will cost than 
in selecting the amount of power that must be avail- 


318 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



The 60-inch electric magnet on an overhead crane, in the upper 
picture, handles chilled pig iron. Average lift of pig 3000 pounds. 
The one below was used to salvage pipe from the river. 











AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


319 


able. The manufacturer should be consulted as to 
size and current required for the work to be done. 

Electric lifting magnets have one well-defined 
pecularity: If the current is cut off for any reason, 
the load will fall. This must always be borne in 
mind when planning this method of handling. It is 
a hazard that must be considered, and while it is in 
the same category as the breaking of a chain sling 
or other hoisting rig; and like that it is an accident 
that should never happen and probably does not often 
happen, the careful manager will so plan his work 
that if the current should fail and the load fall, the 
risk to life and property will be a minimum. 

I look upon the lifting magnet as one of the epoch- 
making devices. It has revolutionized the handling 
of ferrous products, and I expect to see it used more 
generally in factories and for new purposes as its 
economic value is realized. It will handle so many 
things,—billets, pig iron, boiler plate, scrap iron of 
all kinds, machinery, rails, pipe, sheets, filings, bar¬ 
rels with metal hoops, scrap,—that its field of useful¬ 
ness is large. It will lift articles weighing a few 
ounces or 50,000 pounds. It is cheap to operate, and 
the cost of the current used is small compared to 
the saving of labor, and need not be considered as 
at all an objectionable expense where magnets will 
do the work. 

Magnets are easily put on the crane and are just 
as easily taken off when other material is to be 
handled, so that the same crane can be used for other 
work. The use of an electric lifting magnet is in- 


320 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Electric magnet operating a skull cracker from a Cleveland Crane 
& Engineer Co. three-motion yard crane. Note that the electric 
magnet can be readily discontinued and the crane used 

for other purposes. 

dicated wherever there is any large amount of ferrous 
material to be loaded, unloaded or moved. 

The following data from the catalogue of the Elec¬ 
tric Controller and Manufacturing Co., of Cleveland, 
Ohio, gives a good idea of the fluctuation of load 
carried as well as other details of the 36-incli 
diameter lifting magnet: 































AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


321 


Data on a Lifting Magnet 

No. 3 Type S A Lifting Magnet. Diameter 36 inches. Head 
room required 40 inches. Weights — Net, 2100 pounds; 
Shipping, 2250 pounds. Average current at 220 Volts 

11 Amperes. 

The following statement of average lifts is very conserva¬ 
tive and may be used with perfect confidence for estimation: 


c i 


i i 


Skull-cracker balls up to.12000 pounds 

One ingot, or two if ground man places magnet, 

each . 6000 

Billets and slabs, up to.20000 

Above weights depend on dimensions and whether in indis¬ 
criminate pile or stacked evenly. 

Machine, Cast-iron pig (in unloading railway cars including 

lean lifts when cleaning up). 500 pounds 

Machine, cast iron (average lift when handling 

from stock piles). 600 

Broken, Sand-cast, pig (in unloading railway 

cars, including lean lifts when cleaning up) 500 
Broken, Sand-cast pig iron (average lifts when 

handling from stock pile). 550 

Heavy melting stock (bull heads, and crip ends 

of billets, rails, or structural shapes). 750 

Boiler plate scrap. 600 

Farmers scrap (harvesting machinery parts, 

plow points, etc.). 500 

Small risers from steel castings or small 

castings . 900 

Fine wire 'crap. 400 

Busheling scrap. 600 

Scrap pipe tubing not over 3 feet long. 200 

Loose tin or laminated scrap. 200 

Miscellaneous junk dealers’ scrap.250 to 500 


it 


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a 


a 


it 


11 


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i ( 


i t 


a 


a 

















Data on Cutler-Hammer Lifting Magnet 


JZ 



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Dimensions 
3-Point Chain 
Suspension 

Outside 

Dimen¬ 

sions 

of 

Magnet 

in 

Inches 

\(N 

r-H\ 

a 

t— H 

24 

36 

\C<1 

h\ 

CO 

52 

£ 

C^J 

o 

Head 

Run 

Re¬ 

quired, 

Inches 

CV) 

r-H 

23 

42 

45 

50 

56. 

Approx¬ 

imate 

Lifting 

Capacity 

in 

Pounds 

• 

• 

800 

to 

1,000 

1,300 

to 

1,500 

o 

°o 

oo 

°°iCNi 

o 

4-> 

2,400 
to 2,800 

Direct 

Current 

Requirements 

1.8 amperes 
at 220 volts 

5 amperes 
at 220 volts 

17.5 amperes 
at 220 volts 

30 amperes 
at 220 volts 

40 amperes 
at 220 volts 

55 amperes 
at 220 volts 

Net 

Weight 

Pounds 

350 

750 

1,800 

3,300 

5,200 

o 

o 

LO 

o-' 

Magnet 

Size 

Inches 

oo 

r—4 

24 

36 

43 

52 

62 


322 
























































AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


323 


The manufacturers say that the lifting capacity 
ratings are very conservative averages based on hand¬ 
ling pig iron, bloom, and axle nuts, rail ends, billets, 
and miscellaneous scrap. With large single pieces, 
such as skull crackers, balls, etc., the lifting capacity 
is many times greater, becoming, for example, 60,000 
pounds in the case of the 60-inch magnet. 

From a study of the foregoing data the reader will 
get a fair idea of the varying capacity of the same 
magnet when called upon to lift various qualities and 
shapes of metal. The table will enable him to obtain 
a general idea, both of this variation and of the vari¬ 
ous material that can be handled by the device. 

The Cutler Hammer Manufacturing Co., of Mil¬ 
waukee, Wis., publish the table opposite as to the 
performance of their lifting magnets. 

Air Hoists.—So far as we are interested in air 
hoists they are divided into two classes: the cylinder 
and piston hoist with either direct lift or multiplying 
sheaves, and the air motor hoist. The cost of com¬ 
pressed air is usually high as compared with elec¬ 
tricity, but as air hoists are in actual operation so 
little of the time this difference is not serious. 

The radius of convenient action of the air supply 
hose is in the neighborhood of 30 feet, and largely 
for this reason the application of the air hoist to 
handling problems is limited. It is, however, a very 
useful device over machine tools for placing and re¬ 
moving work where the lift is small, usually under 
6 feet, and where high speed of translation furnished 
by a crane or trolley is not required. The cranes or 


324 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



A 45-inch magnet on a large Orton & Steinbrenner locomotive crane, with 50-foot boom, handling 
motive crane can be used to switch railroad cars as well as electric magnets and this type of loco- 
car wheels. Grab buckets are frequently used about the works. This is a steam operated crane 
with a steam engine dynamo for supplying the current for the electric magnet. 













AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


325 



Air lioist mounted on trolley on a pillar crane at a receiving platform. 

(Curtis Pneumatic Machinery Co.) 

trolleys on which air hoists’are mounted are usually 
moved by hand directly or by a chain gear operated 
by hand. 

The use of air hoists is frequently economical, par¬ 
ticularly where an air pressure system is already in¬ 
stalled, and the service rendered is ample in volume 
where the lifts are infrequent i.e., for use at boring 
mills, lathes, small erecting areas, etc. 

Direct cylinder hoists are low in first cost and very 

























326 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



r .,r,r;i*>i' *v zv,r,, 


The horizontal air hoist in the upper illustration is used for loading 
and unloading furnaces. The one in the lower view is used on 
crane with multiple-geared ropes to increase the length of lift. 
(Curtis Pneumatic Machinery Company) 
















































AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


327 


convenient in use. The type that is lowest in first 
cost is the pendant type furnished with a piston and 
having the piston rod extended and ending in an eye 
or hook, the whole cylinder being suspended from 
the top from a trolley or crane. 

The type next in first cost is a similar cylinder, 
mounted horizontally usually, with multiplying ropes 
to give greater power or greater range of lift. 

The third type in first cost is the air-driven motor, 
operating a drum with a chain or rope. This type 
can be mounted on a trolley, or on a crane, or on a 
fixed support as desired. Such air hoists are some¬ 
times, but not frequently, used to operate small plat¬ 
form elevators. 

The cylinders of air hoists are not frequently smaller 
than four inches in diameter and have a theoretical 
lifting capacity of 8(10 pounds. I have found it ad¬ 
visable to be generous in the size of the cylinder for 
a given load. To avoid jumping (i.e., spasmodic mo¬ 
tion due to unequal friction, etc.), the larger cylin¬ 
ders are sometimes equipped with air pressure on 
both sides of the cylinder and the piston moves be¬ 
cause of an unbalanced pressure, the difference in 
pressure controlling the position of the piston and 
consequently the load being moved. 

Air pressure generally available in factories runs 
about 80 pounds per square inch, and great care must 
be exercised, therefore, to keep the air supply piping 
and hose tight. 

Valves have been worked out to control the speed 
of motion so that the motion is fairly even, and this 


328 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Air hoist mounted on large Niles-Bement-Pond lathe for turning 
locomotive driving wheels and axles. (Curtis Pneumatic 

Machinery Co.) 


improvement has done away with the shocks that 
were experienced in the early types of straight line 
hoists. The valves operating the supply of air and 
regulating the motion of the piston are usually con¬ 
nected with a double arm from which two chains or 
ropes hang within convenient reach of the operator. 

As the use of the vertical or pendant air hoist 
cylinders are by far the most common and useful in 
factory handling, horizontal and multplying hoists 
will be passed by merely with the statement that they 
can be used where needed. 














AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


329 


Air hoists are most frequently used for a vertical 
lift, usually in connection with a horizontal trolley 
for moving loads. Frequently they are a great con¬ 
venience in moving castings or forgings to and from 
machine tools where the weight of the pieces makes 
them too heavy to lift by hand. Such lifts are usually 
under ten feet hut those more frequently required are 
about four feet, i.e., from floor or truck to machine 
table and back. A horizontal radius of trolley mo¬ 
tion of more than 20 feet is seldom used due to the 
inconvenience experienced from the long air supply 
hose. They will handle loads running from 100 
pounds up to two or three tons, although large cylin¬ 
ders are sometimes used with a much larger lifting 
capacity. The usual sizes of cylinders run from four 
inches to 10 inches in diameter. 

The Curtis Pneumatic Machinery Co., St. Louis, 
Mo., publish tables (see page 330) on air hoists having 
a piston stroke of four feet and operating with an air 
pressure of 80 pounds per square inch, no allowance 
being made for slips or leaks. 

Compressed air hoists are also made in which com¬ 
pressed air is used to drive a motor or reciprocating 
engine. Large mine hoists have been made for this 
purpose, and with this fact in mind the attention of 
the factory manager is called to the fact that small 
motors of this type may sometimes be used in the 
works to advantage. Of course the radius of action 
is limited to the convenient handling and supporting 
of the supply hose. 

These air-motor hoists may be mounted on cranes, 


Vertical and Horizontal Air Hoists 


Nominal 

Diameter 

of 

Hoist in 
Inches 

Capacity 

in 

Pounds 

10 % 

Friction 

Cubic Feet 
Free Air 
to 

Lift Hook 

1 Foot 

Over All 
Length 
Vertical 
Hoist 
Inches 

Over All 
Length 
Horizontal 
Hoist 
Inches 

4 

861 

0.54 

61 

58 

5 

1,356 

0.85 

63 

58 

6 

2,050 

1.22 

67 

59 

7 

2,791 

1.73 

67 

59 

8 

3,616 

2.24 

68 

61 

9 

4,592 

2.85 

68 

61 

10 

5,636 

3.29 

72 

62 

12 

8,154 

5.06 

72 

62 

14 

11,270 

7.13 

76 

64 

17 

16,500 

10.10 

77 

65 

19 

20,900 

12.50 

78 

65 


Double-Acting Rope-Geared Air Hoists 

The Piston Rod carries a sheave, over which the rope passes 
from a point on the cylinder head to a small sheave on the other 
side, where it leads to the load. 


Nominal 
Diameter 
of Hoist 
Inches 

Capacity 
in Pounds 
20% 
Friction 

Cubic Feet 
Free Air 

To Lift 

Hook 1 Foot 

Approximate 
Over All 
Length of 
Hoist 

6 

900 

0.61 

72 ' 

7 

1,200 

0.87 

75 

8 

1,600 

1.12 

75 

9 

2,000 

1.43 

78 

10 

2,500 

1.70 

81 

12 

3,600 

2.55 

82 

14 

5,000 

3.57 

88 

17 

7,000 

5.05 

91 

19 

9,000 

6.25 

93 


330 




























' AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVIOUS 


331 


trolleys, etc., and wind np a rope (usually wire), 
single or double whip, with a hook at the end or 
suspended from a trolley in the bight. These hoists 
are constructed so that if the air supply fails the • 
load does not move, and as an additional precaution 
the hoists are automatically stopped when the limit 
of hoisting is reached. 

The air motor type of hoist consists of an air 
engine for driving operating drums, the hoisting rope 
and hook being moved by these drums either direct 
to a hook or over multiplying sheaves, Capacities of 
the air motor type range from 1,000 to 10,000 pounds, 
the usual lifting capacity of the drum being about 
20 feet. The mechanism weighs from 300 to 1,000 
pounds and requires a vertical space of from three 
to four feet for its installation. 

The Ingersoll-Rand Co., New York, publish a table 
that gives the salient features of these hoists: 



< < 

Imperial” Motor Hoists 


4} 

'* * i 

Capacity 

in 

Pounds 

Feet 
Lift Per 
Min. 

80 lbs. 
Press¬ 
ure 

Min. 

Lift 

Feet 

Size and 
Length 
of 

Wire Rope 

Size 

of 

Motor 

Cubic 

Feet 

Free 

Air 

Per 

Min. 

' ’ fi’ A 

Net 

Weight 

Pounds 

1,000 

32 

20 

14 "x 42'10" 

4 

45 

270 * 

2,000 

16 

20 

UC'x42'10" 

4 

45 

270 

4,000 

8 

20 

A 1 g" x 42' 10" 

4 

45 

395 

7,000 

8 

20 

%"x96' 6" 

5 

80 

785 

10,000 

7 

20 

Vs "x96' 6" 

5 

80 

785 



















332 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



In the portable air hoist in the machine shop shown above, note the 
crane supported on the standard of the mill. The lower view shows 
a portable air hoist handling structural steel shapes. 

(Ingersoll Rand Co.) 


























AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


333 


The use of air hoists is indicated where a com¬ 
pressed air supply, already installed, is ample for the 
purposes, and where the area to he covered is small 
and the number of operations comparatively infre¬ 
quent. The straight cylinder air hoists are inexpen¬ 
sive and very convenient. Notwithstanding the com¬ 
paratively high cost of compressed air as a motive 
power, these hoists are frequently a most economical 
adjunct in handling material. 

Chain Hoists, Hand Operated. —Chain hoists are 
used for lifting all kinds of miscellaneous package 
material where the lifts are short, usually six feet or 
under, and where the work is infrequent. The loads 
that chain hoists handle in factories are not often 
over three tons, although the hoists can be purchased 
for loads up to twenty tons. With the heavy loads 
the hoisting motion must be very slow. 

Chain hoists mounted on an overhead trolley can 
frequently be of great service and this is probably 
where the factory manager will find the most fre¬ 
quent use for them. They require hand power, that 
is, a man pulls on a chain which operates through 
gearing to lift the load. The load is sustained by the 
mechanism, and the hand chain must be operated 
either to lift or lower the load. As the gearing from 
the hand chain to the lifting chain is direct, the speed 
of hoisting the load depends on how fast and how 
hard the man pulls the operating chain. Therefore 
small capacity chain hoists lift their loads more 
rapidly than the large ones. 

In selecting a chain hoist it is well to remember 


334 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Left: Air hoist with hoistihg drum hoisting bucket from a mine shaft. (Ingersoll Rand Co.) 
Right: A pendant air hoist carried by overhead crane in use in a foundry. (Whiting Foun¬ 
dry Equipment Co.) 










AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


335 



Air and hand hoists are shown above as used in machine*shop. The 
lower view shows an air hoist with multiple-geared ropes for han¬ 
dling coal to locomotive tenders. (Whiting Foundry 

Equipment Co.) 

























336 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


that a man can pull from 60 to 100 pounds on a 
chain, and that the lower amount is a better one to 
select than the higher. They are slow-moving hoists 
at best, and are indicated where power hoists are 
for some reason excluded. 

There are many varieties of hoists to choose from, 
and these may be devided into three types,—differen¬ 
tial, worm-geared, and spur-geared. 

The differential hoist lifts the load by a gear ratio 
secured by a different number of sprockets in one of 
the three sprocket chains; hence the name “differen¬ 
tial.” The load is kept from moving backward by 
friction. This is the cheapest in first cost, the 
simplest to operate, and requires the largest pull to 
lift a given load. The usual sizes are one-quarter, 
one-half, one, one and a-half, two, and three tons in 
capacity. 

The worm-geared hoists will give more lifting capa¬ 
city because of a greater gear ratio. The hand chain 
operates a sprocket which in turn, through a worm, 
gear, and sprocket, operates the lifting chain. The 
lifting hook is usually held by two chains, each going 
over its separate sprocket wheel. Usually the sizes 
are the same as the differential hoists described 
above, but in addition they are also made in four, 
five, six, eight, and ten ton capacities. The load is 
prevented from moving backward by the locking 
action of the worm gearing. 

Spur-geared hoists are constructed so that the lift¬ 
ing chain sprockets are operated through a spur- 
gear reduction from the hand-operating chain 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


337 



This illustrates a common and useful form of crane for intermittent 
use. The hand hoist Triplex is carried on a small hand operated 
shop crane. On the left is seen the chain and gearing for operating 
the crane along the runway. The trolley is pushed along the crane. 
In some cases the trolley is operated by a chain in the same manner 
as the crane along the runway. (Yale & Towne Mfg. Co.) 


sprocket. They are more expensive than either the 
worm-geared or differential hoists, hut are more ef¬ 
ficient in the use of power and are indicated where 
very heavy loads are to be lifted. They can be pur¬ 
chased in the sizes given for the worm-geared hoists 
and also in twelve, sixteen, and twenty ton sizes. The 
load is prevented from moving backward by an auto¬ 
matic brake which is applied at all times except when 
the hand chain is pulled in either direction. 

The speed of hoisting is seldom more than 10 feet 
per minute as a maximum for light loads of 1,000 
pounds and under, and the average is very much 
slower, not much over four feet per minute. As one 
man will pull from 60 to 100 pounds on the chain, a 
hoist must be selected which will be within the limits 
of the number of men who are to do the hoisting. 
As economy tends to the use of one man where pos- 










338 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


sible, this generalization will be of service: One man 
on a differential hoist will handle loads up to 1,000 
pounds; on a geared hoist up to four or five tons. 

In selecting a chain hoist, then, the lifting ability of 
one man should be obtained, as given by the table 
which follows, keeping within a reasonable working 
pull, say of 80 pounds. There is such a wide variety 
of hoists to choose from that this working pull can 
be obtained by selecting the proper size. 

The Yale & Towne Co. publish the following data 
regarding their chain hoists: 


Load in Pounds that One Man Can Handle 
on a Chain Hoist without Pulling 

Over 80 Pounds 

Capacity of Hoist 
in Tons 

Spur-Geared 

“Triplex” 

Worm-Geared 

“Duplex” 

Differential 

i 

4 



500 

1 

2 

1,000 

1,000 

600 

1 

2,000 

1,700 

800 

1 h 

2,300 

2,500 

1,000 

2 

2,600 

2,700 

1,100 

3 

4,000 

3,300 

1,000 

4 

5,000 

4,600 

5 

6,500 

5,300 


6 

7,000 

6,500 


8 

9,000 

7,800 


10 

11,000 

10,000 


12 

13,000 

• • 


16 

17,000 

• • 


20 

20,000 

• • 














AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


339 


Minimum Distances Between Hoists 

(In Inches) 

Capacity of 
Hoists in Tons 

Spur-Geared 

“Triplex’ 

Worm-Geared 

“Duplex” 

Differential 

1 

4 

15 

i 

17 

1 

2 

15 

13 

21 

1 

17 

16 

26 

14 

194 

19 

32 

2 

24 

21 

39 

3 

32 

25 

44 

4 

37 

29 


5 

45 

31 


6 

46 

33 


8 

51 

36 


10 

57 

45 


12 

57 

• « 


16 

61 

• • 


20 

77 

• • 



Hydraulic Lifts. —Cylinders with plungers similar 
to the air cylinder lifts, or hydraulic motor driven 
hoists operating through gears, which utilize water 
under pressure, may be used for hoisting purposes. 
Their use, however, is comparatively infrequent as 
compared with the use of either compressed air or 
electricity, and they are mentioned here simply to 
call attention to the fact that they are available 
should occasion demand their use. It must he remem¬ 
bered that these hoists, except in the case of vertical 
platform elevators and similar devices, are attached 
to the source of water supply by a flexible hose con¬ 
nection both for the supply and discharge water, and 















340 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



In this case the Triplex hand hoist is mounted on a trolley to carry 
the load, and is fitted with a trailer trolley to carry sheaves to 
bring the operating chain of the hoist away from the load, a con¬ 
venient arrangement where bulky loads are to be handled. 

they are therefore limited in their radius of action 
by the length of this hose. 

Electric Hoists. —Electric hoists are much more 
flexible, rapid, and convenient in operation than 
either the air or hand chain hoists. They may be 
employed wherever there is sufficient work to justify 
their use and where electric current is available. 
They are more expensive in first cost than either 
the chain or air hoist, and this fact sometimes ex¬ 
cludes their free use where the work to be done is 
small or infrequent. I have a decided preference for 
the electric hoist, however, wherever the expense is 
not too great for the service rendered. 

While electric hoists are made in sizes up to six 















AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


341 



An electric hoist in the machine shop. (Sprague Electric Company) 
















342 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


tons, the usual sizes used in shops are three tons and 
under. They can he operated from trolleys and on 
all kinds of cranes, a modification of their construc¬ 
tion is used in connection with power telphers. 

In construction they are built in a manner similar 
to the worm-geared or spur-geared air hoists, except 
that solenoid brakes are used to hold the load. 
The hoist is driven by an electric motor attached to 
the hoist and controlled by ropes or chains hanging 
from the controller. . They are usually fitted with 
two trolley wheels to collect the current and they can 
therefore be used over long runs of trolley track. 
They are made both for direct current and also for 
alternating currents of 25 and 60 cycles. Hoisting 
speeds vary from 12 to 50 feet per minute. 

When mounted on a trolley, electric hoists are fre¬ 
quently moved by hand by an endless chain geared 
to the trolley wheels, which operates the trolley along 
the track. For light loads the trolleys can be pushed 
by hand. The heavy work where electric hoists are 
used on cranes, telphers, etc., has been previously 
described under those headings. Where the expense 
of an electric hoist is justified, it is probable also 
that an electric motor to move the trolley will prove 
an economy over the hand moved trolley. 

The Northern Engineering Works publish the data 
opposite regarding their electric hoists. 

Rope for Hoists. —Two kinds of rope are used for 
hoisting: (a), Wire rope is coming more and more 
into use. It is always used for operating grab 
buckets, sometimes for hoisting tubs and for making 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


343 


Data on Electric Hoists 

1 

Hoisting Speed 

Lift 


Minimum 


Feet per Minute 




Distance 

Capacity 

Approximate 



Approx- 

Between 

in 




Maxi- 

imate 

Hooks 

Pounds 



Stand- 

mum 

Horse- 




Alter- 

ard 

Lift 

Power 

Standard 


Direct 

nating 

Lift 

Possible 


Lift 


Current 

Current 


(Special) 



500 

20-40 

20-22 

12 

60 

1 

P 10" 

1,000 

10-20 

10-11 

12 

30 

1 

V 10" 

1,000 

25-50 

25-27 

12 

20 

2i 

2' 11" 

2,000 

5-10 

5-6 

12 

15 

1 

2' 8" 

2,000 

20-50 

20-22 

12 

20 

2i 

3' 9" 

3,000 

12-25 

12-13 

12 

12 

2\ 

3' 9"' 

4,000 

10-25 

10-11 

12 

12 

2\ 

3' 9" 

4,000 

20-40 

20-22 

12 

25 

4-5 

3' 10" 

6,000 

17-40 

17-18 

12 

25 

4-5 

3' 10" 

10,000 

9-20 

9-10 

12 

12 

4-5 

4' 10" 

12,000 

8-20 

8-9 

12 

12 

4-5 

4' 10" 

16,000 

9-20 

9-10 

12 

12 

8 

5/ 4// 

20,000 

8-20 

8-9 

12 

12 

8 

5' 4" 


slings, etc. Rope % inches in diameter or % inches 
in diameter are the usual sizes for the one-ton (IV2 
yard) grab buckets, (b), Manila rope is used for 
hoisting smaller loads, coal tubs, etc., .and for pack¬ 
age freight or slings. Plain manila rope is ordinarily 
satisfactory for slings and ordinary hoisting; but 
where there is much or regular hoisting work to be 
done, a manila rope treated inside and out with a 
mixture of plumbago is more economical than the 
plain manila rope, as this mixture reduces the in¬ 
ternal wear of the rope. 




















344 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Left: A heavy self-propelling, two-motor electric hoist on a crane at the plant of Crouse-llinds 

Co., Syracuse. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 

Right: Electric hoist of the portable type as built by the Northern Engineering Works. 

















AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


345 


Chains for Hoisting*. —Chains were formerly more 
frequently used for hoisting than at the present time. 
The use of wire rope has largely taken their 
place, and chains are nowadays more frequently used 
in manufacturing plants for making slings than for 
hoisting the load. These sling chains are made of 
welded links, such chains being known to the trade 
as 44 crane chain.” 

Where chains are used in hoisting loads, two types 
are available: the crane chain, and the flat-link chain. 
The former is composed of welded links of round 
steel, the usual sizes varying by 1/16 inch increases 
from Y 2 inch (diameter of round stock) to 1 inch in 
diameter. Both heavier and lighter chains can be 
purchased. The reader is referred to any mechanical 
engineering hand book for the strength and detail 
dimensions, etc., of the various sizes. It has been 
found by use that crane chains, when compared with 
wire rope, are heavy, require larger hoisting drums, 
and are apt to be noisy at high speeds. 

For very heavy lifting and for short lifts the flat- 
link chain is preferable. This chain is composed of 
sections of rolled steel, punched and connected by 
means of cylindrical pins. It is not expected that 
this type will be of great importance to the reader, 
but it is well to bear in mind that this type can be 
secured. Various sizes can be purchased, and about 
any size of link or pin for any desired design can be 
made if necessary. As this type of chain (exclusive 
of its use in conveyor construction) is required for 
special work, the reader is advised to take up the 



346 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


details with the manufacturers. There are many 
types of construction, many sizes to select from, 
and chains of almost any desired pitch and strength 
can be purchased. 

Hoisting Blocks and Sheaves, —By a block, we 
usually mean a pulley grooved for a rope and mounted 
in a metallic frame, including the bearings and pro¬ 
tecting sides that prevent the chafing oi the rope. 
Blocks are usually supported from a hook which 
swivels, thus allowing the block to adjust itself to 
various angles of lead and load. 

A sheave is usually a pulley with its bearings for 
carrying a wire or manila rope and is intended to 
maintain a fixed place as regards its axial position. 
Sheaves are frequently mounted in wooden frames. 
Both sheaves and blocks are made in all sizes and 
of many kinds. It is usually wise to use roller bear¬ 
ings, especially in out of the way or inconvenient 
places, for they need less care and oiling, and ex¬ 
perience shows that the oiling of sheaves and pulleys 
is frequently neglected. When selecting sheaves or 
blocks, in order to make sure that the rope need not 
rub against the sides, one of larger diameter than 
otherwise necessary should be chosen. This practice 
will cause the hoisting rope to last longer. 

Metallic sheaves are usually used with wire rope; 
although some metallic pulleys can be purchased 
which are lined with rawhide or other comparatively 
soft material in the groove. This softer filling in the 
groove not only increases the life of the wire rope, 
but makes it possible to use manila rope. 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


347 


For manila rope, a wooden sheave or block should 
be used wherever practical, particularly when the 
rope must go over a pulley of such small diameter 
that the friction may cause sufficient heat to burn 
the rope. Sheaves made of lignum vitae are excellent 
where obtainable, but the use of lignum vitae is prac¬ 
tically confined to sheaves under 16 inches in 
diameter. 

Hand Winches.—For very intermittent work in lift¬ 
ing or hauling loads the use of a hand winch should 
not be overlooked. They are operated by a hand 
crank (sometimes two) through spur gearing on a 
drum which hauls in a rope. They are fitted with 
a ratchet catch to support the load and to prevent 
the load from overhauling the winch. They are very 
slow in operation and are useful only for short lifts. 
Winches can be purchased in various sizes up to 
those which exert a pull on the drum of about two 
tons. The economical practice where the work is in¬ 
termittent and fluctuates widely in the loads lifted, is 
usually to install a small winch and supplement the 
capacity by using a block and fall to multiply the 
lifting effort. Electrically operated winches may also 
be obtained. 

Wheelbarrows.— One should not overlook the com¬ 
mon wheelbarrow for little jobs, even if they have 
to be done every day. Sometimes in small boiler 
rooms a wheelbarrow is the most economical device 
that can be employed; it will move both the coal and 
the ashes. The ordinary wheelbarrow is made of 
wood and has no springs. Wheelbarrows with the 


348 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



The side-catch coal tub on the left is dumped by relieving the catch 
with the hand lever shown on the right bale. The back lever, or 
automatic dump coal tub on the right, is dumped when the extension 
of the back lever at the front of the bale strikes a dumping 

blpck. (C. W. Hunt Co.) 

bodies and frames made of steel are preferable in 
most oases around tlie factory, but they are all 
hard on the operator and hard to get over bumps 
on the floor. Spring wheelbarrows, where the wheel 
is carried on a flat spring, can be purchased, and ap¬ 
preciably ease up the job. 

Coal or Ore Tubs. —These buckets, often called 
tubs, are used for handling all kinds of bulk material. 
They are usually filled by hand shovelling, but when 
unloading from a pit or pocket they may be loaded 










AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


340 



Rehandling from ore storage by overhead crane using tubs which 
when loaded are placed on flat railroad cars for removal to fur¬ 
naces. Note that the bale remains on the hoisting block. 
(Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 


through a spout. These buckets are so mounted in 
the bale that they are self-dumping when loaded, self- 
righting when empty, and have wheels on the bot¬ 
tom so they can be readily pushed by hand on floors 
or on the decks of vessels. The construction is ar¬ 
ranged so that they can be tipped forward on a pile 
of coal so that the workman can scoop in a large part 
of the load, thereby saving the labor of lifting each 
shovelful and depositing it in the tub. 

Tubs are made of sheet iron or sheet steel; and 
preference should be given to those made of heavy 











350 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


sheet steel with large rounded corners. For handling 
material of the character of broken stone or sharp 
ore they can he fitted with an easily replaced 
wearing piece; i.e., a double bottom. They can be 
dumped by hand by lifting the “side catch,” or by 
means of a special lever which strikes against a 
dumping block—this type is called “back lever” or 
“automatic dump” tubs or buckets. 

The bucket sizes usually kept in stock are sold by 
the ton of coal rating, the smallest size being one- 
seventh of a ton in capacity, and running up from 
that to one-sixth ton, one-fourth ton, one-third ton, 
one-half ton, three-fourths ton, one ton and one and 
a half ton. Some manufacturers rate their buckets by 
cubic feet capacity, and call from 40 to 44 cubic feet 
as the equivalent of a ton of coal, depending upon the 
size of the coal to be handled. 

The one-half ton bucket is about the largest that 
can be easily managed in an ordinary coal-carrying 
barge, although in some of the very large barges the 
one-ton size can be used, particularly when cleaning 
up after a grab bucket operated by a “Boston” or 
“steeple tower” is used to unload the major part of the 
cargo. When these tubs are used for other purposes 
than for coal, their construction is the same; but they 
are made stronger for ore and heavy material—simply 
a heavier tub or a tub lined with a heavy piece on the 
bottom and with heavier bales, etc. The ordinary 
coal tub should never be used to handle lumps of ore; 
it is not strong enough. 

Buckets for handling bulk material are made in 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


351 



This illustration gives a good idea of the construction of tip cars 
used around factories for handling all kinds of loose material and 
for use in construction work. This type of car is designed to dump 
its load on either side of the track and although frequently used for 
discharging on the track level, is more convenient when dumping 
from a trestle where there is no tendency of the load 
to clog the rails. (C. W. Hunt Co.) 


various shapes and sizes and with various forms of 
dumping methods—overturning, self-righting, auto¬ 
matic dumping, side dump, and bottom dump. There 
are many manufacturers and each have their own 
assortment of shapes and sizes. It is not difficult, 
therefore, to select and purchase almost any kind of 
a tub desired. 

To prevent coal from breaking when dumping on a 
pile, one type of bucket is made so that the catch is 












352 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

released when the bucket touches the pile, then when 
the bucket is hoisted the coal flows out thus avoiding 
the fall and consequent breakage which is entailed 
when dumping the bucket from above and allowing 
the coal to fall any considerable distance. Another 
form is made in which the coal is discharged through 
the bottom of the tub, much as a grab bucket dis¬ 
charges its load. This is a more complicated device 
than the regular tub, and should be selected only 
when this feature is of especial importance to the 
installation. 

Grab Buckets, Clam-Shell Type. —Prior to 1880, 

coal was almost always unloaded from vessels by hand 
shoveling, at first into wheelbarrows with temporary 
plank runways, then into buckets filled by hand and 
hoisted on a mast-and-gaff rig by horses or, later, by 
steam engines, and then discharged by hand dumping 
again into carts or hand-pushed narrow-gauge rail¬ 
ways. Later the hand-filled buckets, or “grab 
buckets” as they were called, were arranged to be 
self-dumping when loaded and self-righting when 
empty; and a further improvement was introduced by 
replacing the mast-and-gaff hoists with hoists having 
an inclined boom—tub-rig elevators—and by arrang¬ 
ing to have the tubs dump automatically into a hop¬ 
per which fed the cars that carried the coal from the 
wharf. This was a great improvement; and while 
some experimenting was done with, and some installa¬ 
tions were made of a conveyor, the bucket of which 
fed into the cargo and conveyed the coal to a hopper 
on the wharf. The improvement in tub-rig elevators 


353 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 



Upper left, a Blau-Knox bucket with perforated scoops for handling 
wet material. Hayward bucket, upper right, to handle sand and 
sprues in a foundry. Blau bucket, lower left, for heavy and refrac¬ 
tory material. Browning grab, lower right, for 
picking up lumps. 






















354 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


caused them to be selected and installed in almost 
all cases after 1880; although for small hourly 
capacities and for intermittent work the mast-and- 
gaff rigs for hoisting hand-filled buckets were and 
are still installed. 

The next step was the introduction of the clam-shell 
type of grab bucket. Two types were developed at 
about the same time and for several years it was a 
moot question which would prove to be the most 
economical. Both types were of the 4 4 clam-shell ’ ’ 
variety, that is, each had two scoops which were 
drawn together through the coal in such a way as to 
enclose a full load, and when closed remained closed 
while being hoisted and until unloaded into the 
hopper. 

The first type developed was the 44 one-rope” or 
4 4 one-chain ’ ’ type, operated by a one-drum engine and 
hoisted on an inclined or curved boom. The second 
type, which now has practically replaced the first 
type, is the two-rope grab operated, in the best and 
fastest manner, by a two-drum engine for hoisting 
and closing the grab and, in addition, a second engine 
fitted with one drum for pulling the trolley out on the 
horizontal boom and placing the grab at its proper 
place. 

Steeple towers, as described above, and mast-and- 
gaff rigs have practically supplanted the earlier type 
which operated the single rope grab. Both of these 
types handle the two-rope clam-shell grab in most 
cases, although either type will handle the orange- 
peel type of grab bucket. 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


355 


Two methods are employed in closing the scoops of 
the two rope clam-shell bucket: In the first, the clos¬ 
ing rope turns a spool carried on the scoops, which 
when turned winds up a chain that draws the scoops 
together—gravity causing the scoops to open when 
the closing rope is released. In the second, the clos¬ 
ing rope is carried around sheaves carried by the 
scoops and the head casting, and when tightened 
pulls the scoops together, gravity opening the scoops 
when the closing rope is released. 

Each of these types are built by different manu¬ 
facturers in two ways: (a) With a rigid construction 
of the head frame and a fixed position of the scoop 
hinges; (b) with a flexible construction of the head 
frame and a swinging position of the scoop hinges as 
the grab opens and closes. It is difficult to say which 
is the preferable method, as all of the foregoing varia¬ 
tions work well on the work for which they are de¬ 
signed. 

Some clam-shell buckets have a very wide opening 
and gather their load by a scraping action, while 
others depend more upon the digging effect of scoops 
shaped for the purpose. Grabs for handling ore, etc. 
need to be stronger and heavier than those required 
for handling coal or coke. For abrasive material the 
scoops are lined on their cutting edges with heavier 
material, sometimes manganese steel to reduce the 
wear. For handling peculiar material, like coke, the 
scoops may be fitted with teeth or prongs, etc. 

In selecting a clam-shell bucket, if it is to be used 
for continuous work, it is well to pick out a well-built, 


356 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Large grab bucket unloading one of the Great Lake vessels. Note the size of the bucket in com¬ 
parison to the man, the construction of the hold of the vessel to facilitate handling, and the 
scraper which keeps the material in piles. (Brown Hoisting Machinery Co.) 





AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 357 

fairly heavy bucket, one having large bearing areas, 
substantial scoops, and reasonably large sheaves for 
the wire rope to reduce the cost of frequent replace¬ 
ments and repairs. At the same time, the heavier the 
bucket, the more power is required, and heavier 
stresses are imposed on the hoisting sheaves and on all 
other working parts. It is therefore advisable to con¬ 
sider not only the substantial construction of the 
bucket, but strength without too much unnecessary 
weight as well. But as buckets are made for handling 
y ^ ^ ^ as well as material of light bulk, a wide 
choice is possible. 

All the types of grab buckets mentioned are self 
tilling and self dumping and as a class represent one 
of the most flexible, useful, and economical devices for 
handling bulk material. They are used for handling 
all kinds of bulk material, coal, ore, ashes, sand, etc. 

Grab buckets are operated by steam or electric 
power by means of ropes leading from the engine 
drums to the grabs. Usually two ropes leading from 
two drums are used, although a crane chain is some¬ 
times used, particularly on the grab end of the closing 
rope. As they are power closed and dumped they 
can be used in connection with mast-and-gaff rigs, 
steeple and Boston towers, gantry cranes, three mo¬ 
tion cranes, and locomotive cranes. The sizes vary 
from a half cubic yard to five cubic yards, and 
a very small grab is made to dig holes for foundation 
piles. The size most frequently met with in factories 
and for handling bulk cargo is the one and a half 
cubic yard bucket. 


358 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



The orange peel type of grab bucket is particularly useful in exca¬ 
vations and the illustration shows a common use—loading cars from 
an excavation. The sharp pointed bucket blades are 
well shown in the cut. 

Speed of operation depends on the type of hoisting 
apparatus used and upon the skill of the operator. 
An average of one round trip a minute is the usual 
speed; although with the faster types of hoisting 
towers, such as the steeple tower, speeds as high as 
three round trips a minute will be secured for short 
periods and under favorable conditions. 

Grab Buckets, Orange-Peel Type.— Buckets consist¬ 
ing of four scoops, closing in a manner similar to the 
two-scoop clam shell bucket, are called, because of 














AUXILIARY hoisting devices 


359 


their shape, “orange-peel’’ buckets. They are not 
usually of much interest to the works manager, as 
they are more frequently used for excavating and 
handling refractory material. Their use may, how¬ 
ever, show a way out of a difficult problem when the 
ordinary clam-shell grab will not do the work. 

Orange-peel buckets are made in a great variety of 
sizes, from the little one that will go down inside of 
a 14-inch circle to excavate for a concrete pile, up to 
the large one with a capacity of several yards, which 
is used for heavy excavation. It is to be remembered 
that they dig well in hard material, largely because 
of the pointed scoops, and that these scoops are apt 
to damage a deck flooring or similar surface. 

Grab Bucket Closed by Electric Motor. —This grab 
is of the clam-shell type, and is a comparatively new¬ 
comer in the field. It is a one-rope bucket; that is, 
only one drum on the engine is needed to operate it, 
the closing being done by an electric motor carried 
in the head of the bucket itself. This device is par¬ 
ticularly useful on electric cranes and telphers, and 
the small sizes have a greater digging power than 
they would have for the same weight if closed by a 
wire rope. 

Electrically closed grab buckets are made in several 
sizes, from a half cubic yard up to one and a half 
yards; these sizes have been the ones most used up 
to the present time although larger sizes can be 
secured. 

Coal Crushers. —Coal crushers, or coal crackers as 
they are sometimes called, are used to prepare run-of- 



360 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Above: Electrically operated four-roll coal crusher with receiving 
hopper and by-pass. This arrangement is designed for mounting on 
a track running over the coal pockets. Note the roll bearings with 
spring mountings to allow the rolls to move out when foreign bodies 
get between the rolls and the adjustable position of the bearings. 

(Orton & Steinbrenner) 

Below: A two-roll coal cracker arranged for a belt drive and for 
use where space is limited. (C. W. Hunt Co.) 


For further views of coal crushers, see “The Power Plant,” pages 
496, 497, 498, by D. M. Myers, Factory Management Course. 











AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


361 


mine bituminous coal for furnace grates. Their use 
is a necessity where stokers are installed, and they 
are frequently advantageous where belts or bucket 
conveyors or elevators are to be used to move the 
coal. Besides preparing the coal to a suitable size 
for boiler furnaces, coal crushers will often permit the 
use of smaller or less expensive types of conveying 
apparatus than will be the case if such apparatus 
must be large enough to handle the large lumps which 
exist in run-of-mine shipments.* 

Most coal crushers are made very rugged and 
strong. The difficulty most frequently encountered in 
their use is a shutdown when foreign matter gets into 
the coal—small logs of wood, coupling pins, coupling 
links, etc. To provide for such occurences, the 
crusher should be so arranged, (a), that it can readily 
be cleaned and the foreign matter removed; (b), that 
a by-pass can be used to shunt the coal around the 
cracker so that coal can be delivered to the furnaces 
during this cleaning out period; and (c), that the coal 
passes over a screen, or grizzly, to sift out the fine 
coal which need not pass through the crusher, so that 
only the lumps too large to be used will go through 
the crusher rolls. 

There are three ways in which coal crushers are 
built to avoid accidents when foreign matter get be¬ 
tween the rolls: First, to make them strong enough 
to stall the driving engine or motor; second, to mount 
the rolls so that they can spring away from each 
other when extraordinary pressure caused by the 
foreign matter is applied, and third, to provide a 


362 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


crushing plate, between which and the roll the coal 
is broken, so hinged that under the abnormal pres¬ 
sure it will move away from the the roll and allow 
the foreign matter to pass through. 

Where coal is delivered in bottom dump cars and 
where a conveyor is to be used to elevate it to its 
destination, the crushers must usually be in a pit 
below the tracks. This is not a favorable situation, 
and care should be exercised to have room enough to 
work around the crushers for repairs and for opera¬ 
tions mentioned above. The cost of suitable room for 
the needs outlined may at first seem excessive, but- 
any one who has “been through the mill” will know 
it to be money well spent. Where skips are used to 
elevate coal from the cars the crushers are preferably 
located at the upper terminal of the skips, receiving 
the coal from the hopper into which the skips dump. 

Most of the coal crushers used in manufacturing 
plants are of the roll type, usually two rolls geared 
together and carrying on their cylindrical surfaces 
corrugations, teeth, or knobs to engage the coal and 
thus insure its feeding through the machine. Coal 
crushers having one roll and others having three rolls 
are manufactured and are frequently used. In some 
crushers the teeth on the rolls are made so that they 
can be renewed without renewing the rolls themselves. 
The teeth wear out rapidly and should be made of 
steel which is very resistant to abrasion, such as the 
manganese steel products. The rolls themselves can 
be made to advantage of the cheaper cast iron. 

It is very difficult to give the capacity of coal 


AUXILIARY HOISTING DEVICES 


363 


crushers as so much depends upon the condition of 
the coal itself and the fineness of the product re¬ 
quired. A crusher with rolls about 3% inches apart, 
the rolls being about 24 inches long and 20 inches in 
diameter, will ordinarily prepare 30 to 40 tons of coal 
per hour, and will require a 10 or 15-horsepower 
motor. This is the size most frequently used. Larger 
sizes up to capacities of 100 tons per hour are used, 
and very large ones can be purchased where the need 
exists. 

Crushers can sometimes be mounted to advantage 
on wheels to run on a track under a pocket or over 
a line of stoker hoppers. It should be remembered 
that crushers work better when fed steadily, and not 
so well when large quantities are dumped directly 
upon the rolls. 


r 


CHAPTER XIX 
VALVES AND CHUTES 

Valves— One of the serious problems in the han¬ 
dling of bulk material is to secure satisfactory valves 
through which the material will flow from storage 
hoppers to receptacles, particularly when the valve 
must close against the flowing material. There are 
many types of valves made, some of them for specific 
purposes, such as emptying the whole load of the 
hopper at once, or emptying part of the load—in 
which case they must be closed against the flow of 
material—and for loading belt conveyors, bucket con¬ 
veyors, and skip hoists where the same condition 
maintains. 

With the exception of the locomotive coaling valves 
and of other very large valves, these valves are al¬ 
most always made of cast iron, both as regards the 
portion of the valve which attaches to the hopper as 
well as the working parts. 

Where head room is limited, a modified form of 
cut-off valve may be used. These valves are similar 
in their construction details to those named above, 
except that they are made to take up as little vertical 
space as possible. To a certain extent they sacrifice 
other considerations to this one of head room. 

Slide Valves. —For small openings as used with 

364 


VALVES AND CHUTES 


365 



Slide valve under hopper and a rotating chute. 


comparatively tine material against small pressures, 
a plain slide valve will do. These are made with a 
plate sliding over the opening in suitable supporting 
grooves, and are usually moved by a lever, so as to 
multiply the effort of the workman. 

For openings of larger size, such slides will move 
hard, and to overcome this difficulty a valve is built 
with a gear pinion which engages with a rack. Turn¬ 
ing the pinion by a hand chain which runs over a 
sprocket wheel, sufficient power is obtained to operate 
the valve easily. One thing to be guarded against 
in the use of slide valves of this character is the 
possibility that the material will get into the sliding 




366 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Slide valve and rotating delivery chute. A rack and pinion operate 

the slide. (Webster Mfg. Co.) 

grooves, form a cake, and prevent the motion of the 
slide. The slides are sometimes mounted on rollers 
to avoid this difficulty and to reduce the sliding 
friction. The slide in both the hand and the power- 
operated valves can be and frequently is made of 
steel plate instead of cast iron. 

Cut-Off Valves. —A form of valve that has come 
into general use within the past few years, known as 
a cut-off valve, opens and closes easily and is par¬ 
ticularly suitable for use at the bottom of storage 
hoppers. This valve consists of a cast-iron frame, 
usually rectangular in section, on which one or two 
cylindrical gates, pivotally mounted, swing below the 
bottom of the frame, and are so balanced that they 
remain closed, and so shaped that when closing they 









VALVES AND CHUTES 


367 



Duplex two jaw cut-off valve for coal, made for very low head room. 

(C. W. Hunt Co.) 


cut through the stream of material without compress¬ 
ing it, thus accounting for ease of operation. 

These valves may he obtained for round openings 
with diameters as low as six inches and running up 
to 12 or 16 inches, hut as a rule openings of over 12 
inches are made square. The valves can be secured 
in almost any size up to 48 inches, although these 
larger sizes are very unusual and probably unneces¬ 
sary in most cases. A spout of 24 inches square is 
usually large enough for any ordinary purpose. 
Sixteen inches square is the common size at the bot¬ 
toms of coal pockets, and openings twelve inches 
square can he used with coal which has been cracked 
by a coal crusher to the sizes needed for strokers. 

Angle Valves, —A similar construction of valve, 
although usually containing but one swinging gate, 
is made which will take material either from the 
bottom or from the side of the hopper, and can also 





368 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Locomotive coaling valve with counterweight chute, shown folded up 
with valve closed and chute raised, and down with valve open and 
chute in the position used for filling locomotive tenders. This chute 
is provided with a deflecting plate at the outer end to prevent the 
coal flowing over the far side of the tender. The valve section car¬ 
ried by the portion of the spur gear cuts up through the coal when 

closing the valve. (Link Belt Co.) 


be obtained in all the sizes needed. Its principal 
use is as a connection for inclined pipes or for side 
exits of hoppers. 

Skip Valves. —For loading skips it is advisable to 
have a valve which is so constructed that it will not 
only cut off the material, but will spout it beyond the 
ance gap between the structure and the skip. These 
valves are made in various ways, the extension lip 
which forms the spout usually folding up when the 





















VALVES AND CHUTES 


369 



A rotating measuring chute for coal, rotated by a hand chain and 

gearing. (C. W. Hunt Co.) 


cut-off portion of the valve, thus bridging a clear- 
valve is closed and moving down when the valve is 
open. They are made in various sizes, from an open¬ 
ing of 12 inches wide by 6 inches high to 36 inches 
wide by 24 inches high. They are made wide, so that 
they will completely load the large area of the skip. 

Locomotive Coaling Valve. —A special form of hop¬ 
per valve is made for loading the tenders of locomo¬ 
tives. In this construction the valve rotates down¬ 
ward and deposits a certain measured amount of coal 
into the locomotive tender. At the same time it cuts 
off the flow of coal, and is therefore intermittent in 



















370 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Automatic weighing machine filling Bromo Seltzer Bottles. 

(Automatic Weighing Machine Co.) 

its action. When in use such a valve extends far 
enough out to load the tender in the center, and when 
not in use it is locked in a postion outside of the 
standard railroad clearances. This type is used where 
it is advisable to keep track of consumption of fuel 
in each individual locomotive; i.e., the valve acts as a 
measuring device as well as a loading chute. Any of 
the cut-off valves with a folding spout can be used to 
deliver continuously for this same work. 

Measuring Chutes. —It is sometimes desirable, par¬ 
ticularly in boiler rooms, to deliver coal to the boilers 
in measured quantities. This may be accomplished 
















VALVES AND CHUTES 


371 



Automatic weighing machine arranged to weigh material carried over 
it on a belt conveyor. (Merrick Scale Mfg. Co.) 


by having a section of pipe fitted with one valve 
above and one valve below in such manner that the 
section can be filled and completely emptied before 
receiving a new load. The two valves, located one at 
the upper and one at the lower end of the pipe, are 
usually of the cut-off type and can be operated from 
the boiler room floor by one set of levers if desired. 

Weighing Hoppers.— Where accurate weights are 
required in a boiler room, a hopper which receives its 
loads from an overhead storage, is mounted on a 
scale, the weigh beam of which is brought near the 









372 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Two hoppers on tracks at right angles for handling and weighing coal 
at the plant of the Cambridge Electric Light Co., Cambridge, Mass. 

(C. W. Hunt Co.) 














VALVES AND CHUTES 


373 



The “S” valve for coal, and chute. The valve cuts up from below 
at the outer end and down from the top at the inner end. 

(C. W. Hunt Co.) 

floor. By this means real accuracy can he secured 
and the amount of coal for each charge can he actu¬ 
ally weighed. The hoppers can be either stationary 
or mounted on an overhead trolley so that one hopper 
can serve several furnaces. 

Ash Pit Valves. —It is sometimes very desirable to 
have valves from which ashes can be readily removed 
from ash pits but which will also prevent air leaking 
into the pits, or to maintain the pressure where a 
blast system of draft is used. A form of valve is 
made for this purpose which is tight and which is 
readily and quickly operated. 

“S” Valves. —A type of valve, known as the “S” 









374 


HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Valves and chutes used for feeding automatic stokers. The oper¬ 
ating levers of the valves are operated from the boiler room floors. 

(C. W. Hunt Co.) 












































VALVES AND CHUTES 


375 









~\j 



Above: Gravity shute at discharge end of a Lamson roller conveyor. 
Below: Automatic Weighing Machine delivering bags filled to a 

certain weight. 







376 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 



Upper end of a spiral gravity chute, with fire door above. The dis 
charge end of the same spiral gravity chute is shown below. 





















VALVES AND CHUTES 


377 


valve because of its shape, is used at the end of in¬ 
clined spouts and will control a fairly large floor of 
material with ease. They are made so that the lower 
portion cuts up through the lower half of the flow 
and the upper portion cuts down through the upper 
portion of the flow, thus making it unnecessary for 
the edges of the valve to bring up against any solid 
part of the valve structure. 

Gravity Spouts and Chutes. —Gravity spouts, both 
straight and spiral, are increasing in favor for lower¬ 
ing material from floor to floor, or from many floors 
to a storage room or loading platform. As in the 
gravity roller conveyors, the material travels by force 
of gravity, in this case sliding over smooth metal or 
w.ood which is inclined at an angle depending upon 
the weight and character of package and the relative 
smoothness of the package surface. Within reason¬ 
able limits packages of various sizes and varying 
weights may be handled on the same chutes and can 
be handled at approximately the same sliding speeds. 

Spiral shoots are built in two ways, one in which 
the inner edge of the spiral is supported upon a 
vertical pipe, and the other in which the central pipe 
is omitted and the spiral is self-supporting. Either 
type can be loaded at one floor or from several floors; 
and where necessary to provide sufficient capacity in 
one place, an additional spiral with the same pitch 
may be used, or even three, in some cases, the device 
then partaking of the construction elements of a 
double or triple thread screw. 


CHAPTER XX 


SUMMARY OF MECHANISM FOR HANDLING 

BULK MATERIAL 

Economical Considerations. —This final chapter is 
devoted to reviewing briefly the devices that gen¬ 
erally may be used with economy in handling 
bulk material in manufacturing plants. It is hoped 
that the discussion will refresh the manager’s mind 
as to the devices which are available for his use, so 
that, knowing the quantity of material to be hauled 
and the local conditions, he may choose, in accord¬ 
ance with the method of selection and analysis given 
in the earlier chapters of this book, those devices 
that will give him the greatest return on his invest¬ 
ment. 

In order that this information be in a form suitable 
for ready reference, the devices that may be used 
will be enumerated under the class of work to be 
performed. For details of operation, and for the 
uses and limitations of any particular device, the 
reader is expected to refer to the detail description 
of the devices themselves in the preceding chapters. 

Unloading from Vessels: Buckets.—As a rule the 
buckets used in unloading vessels are termed coal 
tubs or ore tubs. For this purpose the buckets 
are filled by hand shoveling, should have wheels in 
order that they may be rolled easily on the deck of a 
vessel, should be self-dumping and self-righting, and, 

378 


MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 


379 


when possible, should be arranged to dump auto¬ 
matically by striking a dumper. Sometimes, when 
the quantities to be handled are small, the buckets 
may be dumped by hand, but usually automatic dump¬ 
ing will be more economical. 

Grab Buckets.—These devices are self-tilling and 
self-dumping; they are made in two types, known as 
the “clam-shell” and “orange peel” grabs. The 
“clam shell” grab is by far the most frequently used 
in factories, while the “orange peel” bucket is gen¬ 
erally used for difficult excavation. 

Mast-and-Gaff Big.—These devices are generally 
operated by either steam or electric hoisting engines. 
Where small hourly capacity is required, they are in¬ 
stalled to hoist coal tubs tilled by hand shoveling. 
Where capacities of 300 tons per day are required, 
grab buckets are installed and their use is frequently 
more economical than that of the coal tub, even when 
the amount handled is less. The use of the grab 
bucket reduces the number of men required by the 
hand method of tilling the tubs, and it often proves 
advantageous for the further reason that the grab 
bucket works so much more rapidly and thus accom¬ 
plishes this daily task in time to relieve the men for 
other work. 

Tub-Rig Elevators.—Tub-rig elevators, worked by 
steam or electric engines, are used for hoisting coal 
or ore tubs filled by hand. The capacity ordinarily 
varies from 15 to 25 tons per hour, according to local 
conditions, and a record of 40 tons per hour has been 
obtained under this method. 



380 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 

High-Speed Hoisting Rigs.—If high speed is de¬ 
sired, grab buckets are almost invariably used; the 
capacity of the grab varies from one to five tons. 

This high-speed hoisting machinery includes the 
following types: 

Steeple (Boston) Towers, 

Bridge Cranes, 

Cranes of Gantry Type, 

Brownlioist “Fast Rig,” 

Through Towers, 

Hoisting Bridges, 

Locomotive Cranes. 

All of these devices operate “clam shell” buckets 
of from one to five tons’ capacity, and can be oper¬ 
ated either by steam or by electricity. At the present 
time, electricity is more frequently used for the oper¬ 
ation of the long bridge cranes, and steam for those 
that provide for only a short horizontal movement 
of the load. These rapid and very flexible tools have 
capacities of from 60 to several hundred tons per 
hour; the size of course varies according to the 
*’eeds of the situation. A common type, built with a 
very long horizontal run for the bucket, transports 
the material and stores it in long piles, besides hoist¬ 
ing it. This type is generally used to reclaim the 
material from the storage piles. 

Chain Conveyors.—These conveyors, consisting of 
malleable or steel sprocket chains with buckets car¬ 
ried thereon, are of general use, both for vertical and 
horizontal movement of material. They are some- 



MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 381 

times mounted on a flexible arm which is supported 
on the wharf in sucli a way that it can be fed into 
the load; the conveyor eats its way into the material 
in the hold of a vessel and deposits its load, over the 
top pulley, in a hopper on the wharf. Conveyors of 
this later type of construction are suitable only 
for fine material like grain. They are not much used 
about factories nowadays, and are mentioned here 
only as being possible devices when others cannot be 
used. 

Hulett LTnloader.—Where enormous daily and regu¬ 
lar tonnage must be unloaded from vessels, the Hulett 
type of unloader is a very satisfactory instrument. 
It is required for very extensive operations only, and 
it is the exceptional manufactory that will need to 
use it. 

Where the problem is one of hoisting and convey¬ 
ing, any of the mechanisms mentioned above may be 
used in connection with the apparatus that will be 
referred to under the heading, “ Transporting Bulk 
Material’’ in this chapter. As some of the devices 
for use in transporting can be used for hoisting as 
well, it is suggested that further reference be made to 
the list of devices for the transportation of material. 

Unloading from Railway Cars. —For the unloading 
of bulk material from railway cars, the following 
mechanism are recommended: 

Buckets or coal tubs, filled by hand shoveling or 
from a chute under the car. 

Grab buckets, filled directly from the car or from a 
hopper under the car. 


382 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Mast-and-gaff rigs, filled directly from the car or 
from a hopper under the car. 

Tub-Rig Elevators, filled directly from the car by 
hand shoveling, or from a hopper under the car, by 
gravity, through spouts. 

Steeple or Boston Towers, grab buckets filled 
directly from the car or from a hopper into which 
the car empties. 

Skip Hoists, filled by gravity from under the car. 
Special valves and spouts are required. 

Overhead Cranes, of all kinds, filled directly from 
the car or from a hopper under the car. 

Locomotive Cranes, filled directly from the car or 
from a hopper under the car. 

Bucket Elevators, of all kinds, filled by gravity 
from under the car. 

Bucket Conveyors, filled by gravity from a hopper 
under the car. A special filling device is desirable. 

Belt Conveyors, filled by gravity from a hopper 
under the car. Reciprocating or continuous types of 
feeding apparatus are advantageous, but not always 
necessary. 

Pan Conveyors, filled by gravity, through spouts, 
from a hopper under the car. This type of conveyor 
is not often used, but where its use will save in the 
cost of pit, a type requiring a special form with 
cleats on the bottom can sometimes be used to ad¬ 
vantage. 

Slat Conveyors, very infrequently used for bulk 
material. 

Reciprocating Conveyors, very rarely used except 


MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 


383 


as short conveyors feeding coal crushers, lifting con¬ 
veyors, or skips. 

Screw Conveyors, limited to us for a distance of 
a few feet and in connection with small quantities. 
If used, they generally serve as feeding devices for 
some other mechanism. 

Narrow-Gauge Railway Cars, filled by gravity from 
a hopper under the car, moved by hand or by nar¬ 
row-gauge locomotive to and from destination. 

Cable Railways, cars filled by gravity from a hop¬ 
per under the car, and hauled by wire rope. 

Platform Elevators, used for hoisting and lower¬ 
ing narrow-gauge cars filled as above described. 

For unloading wagons, carts, or trucks, the same 
apparatus as that listed in this section is used. 

Transporting* Bulk Material. —The mechanisms for 
this purpose are frequently combined with those used 
for unloading vessels, railway cars, wagons, trucks, 
and carts. Some of this apparatus will hoist as well 
as transport, and may deliver or receive its load to or 
from any of the devices used for hoisting or moving 
material. 

Any of the following devices will transport bulk 
material: 

Belt Conveyors 
Bucket Conveyors 
Pan Conveyors 
Slat Conveyors 
Reciprocating Conveyors 
Screw conveyors 
Scraper Conveyors 
Flight Conveyors 


384 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Hydraulic Conveyors 
Suction Conveyors 
Pneumatic Conveyors 
Standard-Gauge Railways 
Narrow-Gauge Railways 
Automatic Railways 
Power Trucks 
Car Hauls 
Cable Railways 
Ropeways 
Cranes 
Telphers 
Gantry Cranes 
Locomotive Cranes 
Movable Hoppers 
Chutes 

Reciprocating Feeders 
Wheel-Barrows 

2- wheeled barrows 

3- wheeled barrows 
Power Trucks 

Electric 

Explosion 

Locomotives 

Steam 

Electric 

Explosion 

Compressed-Air 

Filling Storage Piles. —Any of the following ma¬ 
chines may be used to build storage piles: 

Power Trucks 
Automatic Railways 
Cable Railways 
Narrow-Gauge Railways 
Standard-Gauge Railways 
Car Hauls 
Belt Conveyors 
Scraper Conveyors 
Bucket Elevators 


MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 


385 


Bucket Conveyors 
Flight Conveyors 
Locomotive Cranes 
Skip Hoists 
Mast-and-Gaff Rigs 
Tub Elevators 
Steeple (or Boston) Towers 
Gantry Cranes .. i 

Travelling Bridges 
Three-Motion Cranes 
Telpher Hoists 
Pneumatic Systems 
Locomotives 
Steam 
Electric 
Explosion 
Compressed-Air 

Reclaiming Bulk from Storage. —Below is a list of 
the mechanism used for reclaiming bulk material 
from storage piles: 

' j ♦ . . > i i i.. , . - 

From Overhead 
Locomotive Cranes 
Mast-and-Gaff Rigs 
Steeple and Boston towers 
Three-Motion Cranes 
Telepher Hoists 
Gantry Cranes 
From the Surface 
Hand shovelling 
Scraper Conveyors 
Locomotive Cranes 
Steam Shovels 
Portable Reclaimers (in¬ 
clined bucket conveyor 
on wheels) 

Power Scrapers 
From below (in tunnels) 

Power Trucks 


386 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Narrow-Gauge Railways 
Cable Railways 
Belt Conveyors 
Bucket Conveyors 
Scraper Conveyors 
Flight Conveyors 
Hydraulic Systems 
Pneumatic Systems 
Wheelbarrows 
Hand Trucks 
Tunnel Valves 
Power Trucks 
Electric 
Gasoline 
Locomotives 
Steam 
Electric 
Explosion 
Compressed-Air 


Mechanisms for Boiler Plant and Factory.—In the 

boiler plant and factory proper the use of any of the 

following may prove an economy: 

Automatic Railway 
Narrow-Gauge Railway 
Cable Railway 
Standard-Gauge Railways 
Platform Elevators 
Belt Conveyors 
Bucket Conveyors 
Bucket Elevators 
Flight Conveyors 
Scraper Conveyors 
Grab Buckets 
Weighing Hoppers 
Three-Motion Cranes 
Skip Hoists 


MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 


387 


Power Trolleys, Telphers, 
etc. 

Hand Trolleys 
Cut-Off Valves 
Skip Hoists 

Pneumatic Systems (Pres¬ 
sure and Suction) 

Hydraulic Systems (wash 
out ashes) 

Wheel-Barrows, with 1, 2, 
or 3 wheels 

Pneumatic Systems. —Either the vacuum or the 
pressure system may be used. Both types are usually 
fed by hand shoveling to the mouth of the intake, 
particularly when ashes are handled, but they can be 
tilled from a spout running from a hopper under the 
car. The spout delivers a thin stream of material to 
the intake. 

Unloading Vessels. —When planning a means to 
unload vessels, consider the use of tubs filled by hand, 
hoisted by mast-and-gaff rigs or tub elevators, and 
operated by steam or electric engines. The tubs are 
usually of 20 to 40 cubic feet capacity—more often 
they are used in the smaller size, owing to the diffi¬ 
culty of pushing the larger sizes about the decks of 
the boats. These rigs have comparatively small 
capacity, up to about 25 tons per hour, on account of 
the time required to fill the tubs. 

As an alternate method, consider the use of grab 
buckets hoisted on mast-and-gaff rig or by steeple 
towers, gantry cranes, locomotive cranes, or telpher 
rigs. The grab-bucket type of handling is far the 
most widely used, is very flexible if the right hoisting 


388 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


rig be erected, and is very rapid in operation. Speeds 
up to three round trips per minute are possible with 
the steeple towers. The buckets used are generally 
from one-ton to 1%-ton capacity; the 1%-ton size 
is the most frequently used. The handling of capa¬ 
cities up to an average of 600 to 700 tons per day of 
10 hours, is a common occurrence, and much higher 
capacities are obtained where needed. These rigs are 
operated by one man, although it is common to have 
two men operate the machinery in the case of hoist¬ 
ing tower types. The general tendency is toward 
the use of towers operated by one man—these are 
known in the trade as “One-Man Towers.” 

Bucket elevators, in which a series of buckets are 
fastened to a belt or chain, fill themselves by digging 
into the cargo. This type can be used, but they are 
not often selected and are at best suitable for use 
only with fine material. 

There is a type of hoisting apparatus used on the 
Great Lakes, especially for handling large quantities 
of ore, in which the mechanism consists of a very 
large stiff leg with a large special bucket, something 
like a grab bucket and something like a steam shovel. 
This type, known as the Hulett Unloader, has a 
capacity of from 500 to 1000 tons per hour, so that 
naturally it would not be used except in cases in 
which the tonnage is enormous. 

Moving Bulk Material Horizontally or up Slight 
Inclines. —When a selection of apparatus for this 
work is made, the following mechanisms should be 
given consideration: 


MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 


389 


Narrow-Gauge Railways and Cars, 

Cranes of Gantry or Bridge type, 

Cable Railways, 

Automatic Railways (operated by gravity) in 
which the loaded car runs out and dumps the load, 
and the empty car returns to the starting point (car¬ 
ries load down grade only). 

Belt Conveyors, either fixed or on movable bridges 
or cranes. 

Standard-Gauge Railways, in special places. 

Narrow-Gauge Electric-Motor Cars. 

Gravity Buckets and Scraper Conveyors, for short 
distances. 

Reclaiming Material from Storage. —For the work 
of reclaiming material from storage the following 
mechanisms should be considered: 

Grab Buckets, or hand-filled tubs—operated from 
overhead runways,—bridge cranes, or locomotive 
cranes. 

Gravity Bucket Conveyors, or any other transport¬ 
ing device running in a tunnel under the pile, and 
filled by gravity from valves in the tunnel. 

Narrow-Gauge Railways, or belt conveyors filled 
by surface-operating machines, like the steam shovel, 
or portable reloaders, or locomotive grab bucket 
cranes. These reloaders consist of a short-length 
bucket elevator, mounted on wheels, and so con¬ 
structed as to force the lower end of the conveyor 
into the pile and to discharge into cars or vehicles. 

Horizontal Movement of Material. —For the general 
horizontal movement of bulk material, all kinds of 


390 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


conveyors, may be used, slat conveyors, pan conveyors, 
pusb-plate conveyors, screw conveyors, and reciprocat¬ 
ing conveyors, as well as the better known and more 
common scraper conveyors, belt conveyors, and 
pivoted bucket conveyors. Also all kinds of surface 
cars and vehicles should be considered. 

Unloading Standard-Gauge Cars. —For use in this 
work, consider buckets filled by hand from the cars, 
or by gravity from a receiving hopper under the car, 
hoisted by mast-and-gaff rig, by tub elevators, or by 
telpher or other cranes. Also consider as a possible 
mechanism grab buckets hoisted by mast-and-gaff, 
steeple towers, cranes, telphers, or locomotive cranes, 
loading directly from the standard-gauge car, or from 
a receiving hopper under the car, or from a pile on 
which the railroad car discharges its load, from a 
trestle. A frequent solution of the problem is to use 
belt conveyors receiving their load from a hopper 
under the car, or to use bucket elevators filled in the 
same manner. 

Gravity bucket conveyors are frequently used when 
a vertical as well as a horizontal movement of the 
material is required. Skip hoists are large containers 
running in a fixed vertical or inclined track, dumping 
their load at the top by overturning the container at 
the top, much as a tipple discharges a 4-wheel car. 

Scraper conveyors are frequently used for building 
storage piles of anthracite coal and for reclaiming 
coal from those piles, particularly where very large 
storage is required. One arrangement, known as the 
Dodge system, consists of two scraper conveyors, 


MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 


391 


each of which is carried on a bridge up an incline of 
about 30 degrees, and builds a large conical pile. 
Between these two conical piles a third scraper con¬ 
veyor, carried on a horizontally trussed frame pivoted 
at one end, is so arranged that it can be fed into 
either pile by being swung around the pivoted end. 
A3 this conveyor eats its way into the foot of the pile, 
the coal runs down the pile, by gravity, and is 
scraped to the pivoted end, where by means of an¬ 
other scraper conveyor, which hauls it up an incline 
to the pocket, it is loaded into railroad cars. 

Screw or helical conveyors are sometimes used for 
horizontal transfers, but they should be adopted only 
after a careful consideration of other types. 

Pneumatic conveyors can be operated either by suc¬ 
tion or by the pressure system; in either case a rap¬ 
idly moving current of air carries the particles of 
material. They can be employed when the quantities 
to be moved are small. The pipes used are com¬ 
paratively large, from 4 to 10 inches in diameter, and 
discharge into a hopper, which not only receives the 
material but also constitutes a settling tank for the 
dust. These pneumatic systems have so far been 
more frequently applied for comparatively small 
hourly capacity, say, from 6 to 15 tons per hour. 

Sometimes material can be floated away, as is 
occasionally done in large power houses, by dumping 
the ashes into a trough in which a moving current 
of water carries the ash along with it to a dump or 
waste bank. If the ashes are delivered into a pit, 
grab buckets are used to hoist them out for removal. 


392 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


Handling Bulk Material from Vehicles. —The mate¬ 
rial is usually dumped into a receiving hopper or 
into a pile from a trestle, and apparatus similar to 
that described for unloading railroad cars is used. It 
sometimes pays to make the body of the vehicle re¬ 
movable, and to hoist the body with its load by a 
crane and convey it to its destination, thus avoiding 
the operation of dumping and rehandling. 

Boiler Room: Handling Coal and Ashes. —Prob¬ 
lems of handling material in boiler rooms are largely 
confined to the handling of the coal and ashes. 
Usually both of these materials have to be not only 
hoisted, but conveyed as well, coal must be delivered 
to each of the boiler furnaces, and the ashes must be 
taken from each of the furnace pits. This hoisting 
and conveying can be done by any of the machinery 
described for hoisting and transporting material, or 
by any combination thereof. The scheme . selected 
should be as simple as possible—frequently both coal 
and ashes can be hoisted and conveyed by the same 
conveying device, and when such an arrangement 
can be used, it means a reduction of the number of 
mechanisms and is a great advantage. Boiler rooms 
are frequently constructed with small clearances. In 
planning a handling method for use therein, great 
care should be taken to see that the mechanismsS 
have room enough not only to allow for their work, 
but to enable the attendants to operate and repair 
them; also they should not interfere with the proper 
care of the boilers and the auxiliary devices. The 
cleaning of boilers and taking out of tubes require 



MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 


393 


certain room, and bunkers for the coal and the 
mechanisms for conveying it must be kept out of the 
way. Where head room is not available and the fur¬ 
naces are hand fired, the use of narrow-gauge rail¬ 
ways with special boiler-room cars is of advantage. 
Where there is no room for overhead bunkers in the 
boiler room, and where stokers are used, the use of 
elevated bunkers outside the boiler room with nar¬ 
row-gauge hand- or power-moved cars running on a 
trestle over the stokers, may be a distinct economy, 
as may be the use, in a similar case, of a belt or 
bucket conveyor or an electrically propelled weighing 
hopper or larry. 

Coal Crackers and Weighing Hoppers. —Coal crack¬ 
ers are used for preparing run of mine bituminous 
coal for the furnaces, and their installation should 
always be considered when coal is to be stored over 
the boiler; their use is a necessity where stokers 
are employed. 

Overhead or supply hoppers in the boiler room are 
often fitted with weighing hoppers in order that the 
coal may be weighed to each individual boiler. These 
hoppers can be movable, and can be operated by hand 
or power. 

Mechanisms for Handling Unit or Package Mate¬ 
rial. —The variety of articles and packages that have 
to be moved in a manufacturer’s establishment is so 
great, and their sizes, shapes, and weight so differ¬ 
ent, that it seems wise merely to enumerate the de¬ 
vices that may be used, leaving it to the manager 
to select the types that will serve his needs best. 


394 HANDLING MATERIAL IN FACTORIES 


There seems to be no way to generalize on the suit¬ 
ability of the various devices that will be of use, ex¬ 
cept to say that where volume or weight is great, 
power-driven devices are preferable and sometimes an 
absolute necessity, and that where any actual lift is 
to be secured, they are usually indispensable. 

Any one of the following devices may save money: 

Standard railways (4 ft. 8% ins.) 

Narrow-Gauge railways 
Cable railways 
2-Wheel hand trucks 

All kinds of trucks, 2-, 3-, 4-wheel, with special tops ar¬ 
ranged for use with the particular articles to be moved 
Power-driven trucks of all kinds are suitable, particularly 
when used in connection with trailers 
Transveyors, hand and electric 
Locomotives, gas, steam and electric 
Cranes of all kinds 

Overhead trolleys, hand and electric (telpher) 

Hand Hoists 

Electric and air hoists 

Platform elevators 

Package elevators 

Belt conveyors 

Slat and platform conveyors 

Roller and gravity bucket conveyors 

Spiral chutes and runways 

Mast-and-Gaff hoisting rigs 

Steeple or Boston towers 

Locomotive cranes 

Electric lifting magnets 

Ramps 


MECHANISMS FOR BULK MATERIAL 


395 


Chain conveyors 
Tiering machines 
Pneumatic hoists 
Pneumatic conveyors 
Cableways 

Continuous-assembly conveyors 

Assembly containing system—each box unit contains all 
the parts required for one completed machine. 




































INDEX 


Air Hoists, 323 

—Capacity of, 331 
—Illustrations of, 325, 326, 328, 
334, 335 

—Table of Double-Acting Rope 
Geared, 330 

—Table of Vertical and Horizontal, 
330 

—Uses of, 329 

Analysis of Financial Returns, 41 
—Preliminary, 38 
Angle Valves, 367 
Apparatus, Upkeep of, 49 
Ashes, Handling, 392 
Assembly, Continuous, 68 
Automatic Dumping Steel Car, Illus¬ 
tration of, 142 
Automatic Railway, 100 

Bearings for Belt Conveyors, 249 
Belt, Cotton, 233 

—Rubber-covered, 232 
—Selection of, 242 
Belt Conveyors, Bearings for, 249 
—Best Speed for, 241 
—Discharging from, 236 
—Illustrations of, 230, 232, 235, 
246 

—Limitations in Use of, 231 
—Planning of, 236 
—Planning an Installation of, 240 
—Selection of Motors to Drive, 247 
—Specific Probem in, 241 
—Speed of, 243 
—Speeds and Capacities of, 231 
—Uses and Advantages of, 229 
Belting, Formula for Number of Plies 
in, 248 

Belts, Balata Covered, 232 
—Construction of, 233 
—Determination of Capacity of, 
242 

—Driving of, 234 
—Failure of, 237 
—Fillers for, 239 
.—Methods of Loading, 238 


—Pulleys for, 234 
—Rubber Covering for, 248 
—Table of Speeds of, 244 
—Table of Widths of, 242 
—Types of, 233 
—Troughing of, 234 
Bids for Purchase of Equipment, 72 
Blocks and Sheaves, 346 
Boston Tower, 206 

—for High Hoists, 210 
—Illustrations oi K 207, 208 
—Speed of, 209 
Boom Elevators, 196 
Bridge Cranes, 162 

—Illustrations of, 168, 171 
—Operation of, 167 
—Speed and Capacity of, 173 
Bucket Conveyors, 249 
—Advantages of, 261 
—Capacity and Sizes of, 255 
—Construction of Gravity, 253 
—'Diagram of Run of, 252 
—Driving Mechanisms for, 259 
—Durability and Utility of, 259 
—Filling Devices for, 257 
—Illustrations of, 250, 258 
—Types of, 255 

Bucket Elevators, Advantages and 
Disadvantages of, 267 
—Tables of Capacities of Continu¬ 
ous, 268 

Buckets, Construction and Capacity of 
Elevator, 265 
—Dumping the, 263 
—Illustrations of Scraper, 305, 307 
—on Belts, 265 
—Sizes and Capacities of, 350 
Buckets, Grab, 352 

—Clam-Shell Type of, 352 
—Illustrations of, 353, 356 
—Illustration of Orange-Peel Type, 
358 

—Operation of, 357 
—Types of, 354 


397 


398 


INDEX 


Cable Railways, 102 

—Selection of Type, 107 
—Speed of, 105 
Cable Tramway, 225 
—Uses of, 227 

Cableways, Illustration of, 225 
—Speed and Capacity of, 224 
—Types of, 224 
—Uses of, 224 

Capacity of Belts, Determination of, 
242 

—of Bridge Cranes, 173 
—of Electric Traveling Cranes, 160 
—of Equipment, Determination of, 
77 

—of Locomotive Cranes, Table of, 
194 

Capstans, Electric, 91 
—Hand, 89 

Car Dumping Machine, Illustration of, 

93 

Car Hauls, 87 

—for Level Work and Slight In¬ 
clines, 88 

—for Short and Slight Grades, 89 
—on Steep Inclines, 88 
—for Charging Cupola, 144 
Cars, Electric Industrial, 113 
—Motive Power for Moving, 98 
—End Dump, 143 

—Relative Economy in Use of 
. Various Types of, 86 
—Side Dump, 90, 143 
—Tip, 351 
Chain Conveyors, 380 

—Illustrations of, 262, 272, 273, 
276, 280 

Chain Elevator, 282 
Chain Hoists, 333 
—Differential, 336 
—Minimum Distance Between, 339 
—Speed of, 337 
—Spur Geared, 336 
—Table of Capacities, 338 
—Triplex, 337, 340 
—Types of, 336 
—Worm Geared, 336 
Chains, Crane, 345 
—Flat-link, 345 , 

—for Hoisting, 345 
Chutes, 364 

—Feeding, 374 
—Gravity, 375 
—Gravity Spiral Roller, 294 
—Gravity, Types and Construction 
of, 377 

—Measuring, 370 
—Plain, 294 


—Rotating, for Measuring Coal, 369 
—Spiral Gravity, 376 
Clam-Shell Bucket, Types and Con¬ 
struction of, 352, 355 
Clearances for Electric Traveling 
Cranes, 152 

—Table of, for Locomotive Cranes, 
195 

Coal, Handling, 392 
Coal Crushers, 359, 360 

—Types and Capacities of, 362 
Coal Tubs, Illustration of, 348 
Compressed Air Locomotives, 116 
Conditions Conducive to Labor Sav¬ 
ings, 7 

Conservation, Need of, 32 
Continuous Assembly, 68, 83 
Continuous Cable Railway, 105 
Conveyor Chain, Description of, 251 
Conveyors, Combination of Gravity 
and Chain, 289 
—Definition of, 228 
—Diagram of Run of Bucket, 252 
—for Long Articles, 285 
—General Uses of, 285 
—Power Required to Operate, 245 
—Slack in, 279 

—Table of Power Required for 
Level, 245 

—Two Types of, 228 
—Two Types of Carrier, 229 
—Types of Push, 269 
—with Automatic Weighing and 
Filling Attachment, Illustration 
of 260 

Conveyors, Belt, Advantages of, 229 
—Illustration of, 230 
Conveyors, Bucket, 249 
—Contact Type of, 256 
—Illustration of, 250 
Conveyors, Chain, 380 
—Illustrations of, 262, 272, 273, 
276, 280 

Conveyors, Flight, 276 
—Illustration of, 270 
Conveyors, Gravity Bucket, Construc¬ 
tion of, 253 
—Illustration of, 254 
Conveyors, Gravity Roller, 287 
—Illustration of, 288 
Conveyors, Helical, 270 
Conveyors, Pan, 382 
Conveyors, Power Roller, 293 
Conveyors, Push Plate, Description of, 
269 

Conveyors, Recroprocating, 382 
Conveyors, Roller, Construction and 
Adaptability of, 291 


INDEX 


399 


—Economy of, 289 
—Illustrations of, 286, 290 
Conveyor, Scraper, 276 
Conveyors, Screw, 270 
—Illustration of, 271 
—Table of Capacities of, 275 
Conveyor, Slat, Illustrations of, 269, 
- 264, 267 

Conveyor, Trough, 276 
—Endless, 265 

—Table of Carrying Capacity of, 
278 

Conveyors, Worm, 270 
Cost, Indications of Excessive, 37 
—Handling Materials, Factors is, 
74 

—of Power, 51 
—Reduction, 17 
—of Supplies, 51 
—of Waste, 51 
Cranes, 149, 180 

—Auxiliary Devices Attached to, 
149 

—Clearances of, 161 
—Equipment for Ship Work, Illus¬ 
tration of Large, 172 
—for Lumber Handling, Illustra¬ 
tion of, 174 

—for Pile Driving, Illustration of, 
198 

—Long Span, High Trestle, Double 
Trolley, 164 

—Modified Forms of, 170 
—Motor and Gearing for, 158 
—Selection of Type, 149 

_with Pneumatic and Electric 

Hoists, 155 

Cranes, Bridge, 162, 168 

—Electric Man Trolley, Illustration 
of, 171 

—Operation of, 167 
—Speed and Capacity of, 173 
—Uses of, and Gantry, 166 
Crane Chain, Description of, 345 
Cranes, Gantry, 163, 165 

—Grab Bucket Cantilever, Illustra¬ 
tion of, 165 , 

—Large Gantry, Hlustration of, lb7 
Cranes, Grab Bucket, Illustrations of 
169, 187 

—Man Trolley and, 166 
Cranes, Hand Operated, 150 
—Limits to Use of, 155 
—Portable Shop, 151 
Cranes, Jib, 177 
Cranes, Locomotive, 180, 189 
—Capacities of, 193 


—Capacity, Speed and Limitations 
of, 183 

—Construction Features of, 188 
—Eight-Wheel, Dimensions of, 195 
—Mounted on Float, Illustration of, 
199 

—Necessary Adjuncts to, 182 
—Portal Pier, 197 
—Table of Types and Capacities of, 
194 

—Table of Weight and Load on 
Wheels of, 196 
—Ten-ton, 182 
—Usefulness of, 182 
Cranes, Monorail, Illustration of Spe¬ 
cial, 218 

Crane, Overhead, with Tubs, 349 
Cranes, Pillar, 175 

—Illustration of, 177, 178 
Cranes, Rotary, 173 
Crane Shop, Electrical, 176 
—Large, 156 

—Three-Motion, 152, 153, 157 
Cranes, Traveling, Hand Operated, 154 
—Power Operated, 158 
Cranes, Wrecking, 184, 185 
Crane, Yard, 163 
Crushers, Coal, 359 

—Types and Capacities of, 362 
Cut-off Valves, 366 

Definition of Economy, 5 
Depreciation, 50 

Derrick, Speed and Capacity of, 205 
Derrick, Bull Ring, 203 
Derrick, Stiff Leg, 203 

—Speed and Capacity of, 205 
Devices, List of Serviceable, 394 
Drag Line Rigs, 302 
Drag Line Rig, Illustration of, 303 
Dumping Carriage for Belt Conveyor, 
Illustration of, 246 
Dumping Devices, Types of, 236 

Economy, Burke’s Definition of, 70 
—Definition of, 5 
—in Handling, 15 
—of Purchased Equipment, 24 
Electric Hoists, 340 
—Data on, 343 
—Illustration of, 341 
—Portable, 344 
—Self-propelling, 344 
—Sizes and Operation of, 342 
Electric Industrial Cars, 113 
Electric Locomotives, 110 
Electric Magnets with Locomotive 
Cranes, 183 


400 


INDEX 


Electric Motor Cars, 135 
—Illustration of, 136 
—Sizes and Capacities of, 137 
Electric Storage Battery Trucks, 120 
Elevated Trestles, Economy in Use of, 
87 

Elevators, Boom, 196 
Elevator Bucket, Construction and Ca¬ 
pacity of, 265 

—Advantages and Disadvantages of, 
267 

Elevator Double Chain, 282 
Elevators, Inclined Boom, 200 
Elevators, Package, Adaptability of, 

283 

—Illustration of, 284 
Elevators, Platform, 308 
—Special Use of, 311 
—Speed of, 310 
Elevator, Single Chain, 282 
Elevators, Tub Rig, 196, 379 

—Illustration of, 200 
—Operation of, 201 
—Speed and Capacity of, 201 
Equipment, Determination of Capaci¬ 
ties of, 77 

—Obtaining Bids for Purchase of, 
71 

—Purchase of, 70 
Excavator, Drag Line, 303 
Excessive Costs, Indication of, 37 
Expenditure, Conditions of Justifiable, 
43 

Explosion Engine Locomotives, 117 

—Limits of Use of, 118 
Extension to Service, 50 

Flat-link Chain, 345 
Flight Conveyor, 276 
Formula for Amount of Profitable In¬ 
vestment, 45 

Fundamental Principles, 5 

Gantry Cranes, 163 

—Grab Bucket Cantilever, 165 
—Illustration of, 165, 167 
Grab Buckets, 352, 379 
—Clam-Shell Type, 352 
—Illustration of, 353 
—Operation of, 357 
—Orange Peel Type, 358 
—Types of, 354 
Grab Bucket Cranes, 169 
Gravity Railway, 100 

Hand Crane, Travelling, 154 
Hand Trucks, 139 
—with Lifting Platforms, 142 
Hand Winches, 347 


Handling, Economy in, 15 
—Requisites in, 33 
—Sub-types of Machinery for, 58 
—Types of Machinery for, 56 
Handling Materials, Confusing Ele¬ 
ments in, 90 

—Methods of Description of Ma¬ 
chinery for, 73 
—Movements in, 8 
—Simplicity of Mechanism for, 82 
—Unusual Applications, 81 
Handling Mediums, Alternate, 79 
Handling Problems, Fundamentals of, 
84 

—General Rules for, 24 
Helical Conveyors, 270 
Hoists, Rope for, 342 
Hoists, Air, 323 

—Illustration of, 334, 335 
—Portable, 332 
Hoists, Chain, 333 
Hoists, Electric, 340 
—Data on, 343 
—Illustration of, 341 
—Portable, 344 
—Self-propelling, 344 
—Sizes and Operation of, 342 
Hoists, Skids, 313 
Hoists, Whip, 179 
Hoisting Rigs, High Speed, 380 
Hoisting Towers, 196 
Hoppers, Weighing, 371 
Hulett Unloader, 296 
—Illustration of, 298 
Hydraulic Lifts, 339 


Idlers, 234 

Increased Productivity, 20 
Indications of Excessive Costs, 37 
Industrial Cars, Electric, 113 
Industrial Storage Battery Trucks, 125 
Interest on Cost of Equipment, 49 
Investment, Factors in Profitable, 49 
—Formula for Amount of Profit¬ 
able, 45 

—Illustration of Formula for Profit¬ 
able, 46 

Jib Cranes, 177 

Labor Saving, Conditions Conductive 
to, 7 

Lifts, Hydraulic, 339 
Loading the Handling Equipment, 54 
Loads for Transveyors, 145 
Locomotive Coaling Valve, 369 


INDEX 


401 


Locomotive Cranes, 180 
—Capacities of, 193 
—Construction Features of, 188 
—Dimensions of Eight-Wheel, 195 
—for Pile Driving, Illustration, 198 
—Handling Wood, Illustration of, 
192 

•—Illustration of, 189 
—Mounted on Float, Illustration of, 
199 

—Necessary Adjuncts to, 182 
—Portal Pier, Illustration of, 197 
—Speed, Capacity and Limitations 
of, 183 

—Table of Types and Capacities of, 
194 

—Table of Weight and Load on 
Wheels of, 196 

—Ten-Ton, Illustration of, 182 
—Usefulness of, 182 
—with Electric Magnet, 183 
—with Electric Magnet, Illustrations 
of, 190, 191 

—with Grab Bucket, Illustration of, 
181 

Locomotives, Compressed Air, 116 
—Illustration of, 116 
—with Tank, Illustration of, 117 
Locomotives, Electric, 110 
—Four-Wheel Trolley, 114 
Locomotives, Explosion Engine, 117 
Locomotives, Steam, 109 
—Sizes of, 110 

Locomotives, Storage Battery, 113 
—Economy of Narrow Gauge, 114 
—Four-Wheel, 114 
—Illustration of, 111 
—Sizes, Speed and Radius of Oper¬ 
ation of, 115 

Machinery for Handling, Types of, 56 
Magnets, Lifting, 316 
—Capacity of, 316 
-—Data on, 321 
—Data on Cutler-Hammer, 322 
—Illustration of, 318, 320, 324 
—Indications for Use of, 319 
—Necessary Currents for, 317 
Mast-and-Gaff Rig, 379 

—Illustrations of, 203, 204 
—Uses of, 202 

Material, Average Weights of, 243 
—Delivery by Railway, 64 
—Delivery by Water, 64 
—Factors in Cost of Handling, 74 
—Horizontal Movement of, 388 
—Mechanisms for Handling Bulk, 
Economical Consideration:;, 378 


—Mechanisms for Handling Unit, 
393 

—Mechanism for Transporting Bulk, 
383 

—Methods of Receiving and Ship¬ 
ping, 62 

—Receipts of, 62 
Measuring Chutes, 370 

—Rotating for Coal, Illustration of, 
369 

Mechanisms for Boiler Plant and Fac¬ 
tory, 386 

Mental Decision in Selecting Mechan¬ 
ism, 18 

Methods of Handling, Choice of, 12 
—of Receiving and Shipping Ma¬ 
terial, 62 

Motive Power for Moving Cars, 98 
Motor and Gearing for Shop Cranes, 
158 

Motors to drive Belt Conveyors, Selec¬ 
tion of, 247 
Motor Trucks, 119 
Movable Platforms, 281 
Movements in Handling Material, 8 

Narrow Gauge Locomotives, Economy 
of, 114 

Narrow-Gauge Railways, Automatic 
and Cable, 96 

Obsolescence of Handling Equipment, 
49 

Ore Tubs, 348 
Overhead Trolleys, 211 
—for Loading Trucks, 123 
—Wide Adaptability of, 283 

Pillar Cranes, 175 

—Illustrations of, 177, 178 
Pinch Bars, 91 

Platform, Illustration of Use of Load¬ 
ing, 147 

—Storing, Illustration of, 146 
—with Power Trolleys, Illustration 
of, 223 

Platform Elevators, 308 
Package Eevators, Illustration of, 284 
—Speed of, 310 
Platforms, Movable, 281 
Pneumatic Systems, 387 
Portal Cranes, Locomotive, 197 
Power Roller Conveyors, 293 
Power Trolleys, 212 
—Equipment, 214 
—for Loading Box Cars, 223 
—Layout for, 215 


402 


INDEX 


—Monorail, Illustrations of, 216, 222 
—Speed of, 219 

Practical Questions on Handling Prob¬ 
lems, 35 

Product, Shipment of, 69 
Production, Continuous, 21 
Productivity, Increased, through Hand¬ 
ling Equipment, 20 

Pre-Analysis, Information of, in Select¬ 
ing Equipment, 41 

Preliminary Analysis of the Handling 
Problem, 38 

Purchase of Equipment, 70 
Push Conveyors, Types of, 269 

Railways, Location with Relation to 
Standard Gauge, 86 
—Versus Hand and Electric Trans- 
veyors, 97 

Railways, Automatic, 100 
—Economy of, 101 
—Sizes of, 101 
—Length of Run of, 101 
—'Illustration Two Cable, 103 
Railways, Cable, 102 
Railways, Continuous Cable, 105 
Railways, Gravity, 100 
Railways, Narrow Gauge, Automatic 
and Cable, 96 
—Illustration of, 98 
Railways, Overhead Rope Cable, 108 
Railway, Shuttle Cable, 104 
Railways, Standard Gauge, 59, 86 
Ramps, 279 

—Illustration of, 281 
—Special Uses of, 280 
Reclaiming Material from Storage, 389 
Reloaders, 302 

—Illustration of, 309 
Rigs, Drag Line, 302 

—Comparative Economy of Differ¬ 
ent Forms, 205 
—Illustrations of, 303, 304 
Roller Conveyors, Construction and 
adaptability of, 291 
—Economy of, 289 
—Illustrations of, 286, 290, 292 
Roller Conveyors, Gravity, 287 
—Illustration of, 288 
Roller Conveyors, Power, 293 
Rope for Hoists, 342 
Ropeway, Illustration of, 226 
Rotary Cranes, 173 
Rubber Covering for Belts, 248 

Scraner Bucket, Illustrations of, 305, 
307 


Scraper Conveyor, 276 
Screw Conveyors, 270 
—Construction of, 272 
—Illustration of, 271 
—Table of Capacities of, 275 
—Table of Speed and Capacities of, 
274 

Sheaves, 346 
Shipment of Product, 69 
Shipping Platform with Power Trol¬ 
leys, Illustration of, 223 
Shop Crane, Illustration of Electrical, 
176 

Shovels, Steam, 297 
Shuttle Cable Railway, 104 
Simplicity of Mechanism, 82 
Skip Hoists, 313 
Skip Valves, 368 
Slack in Conveyors, 279 
Slat Conveyor, Illustrations of, 260, 
264, 267 

Slide Valves, 364 

—'Illustrations of, 365, 366 
Speed of Belt Conveyors, 243 
Speeds and Capacities of Electric 
Traveling Cranes, Table of 
160 

Standard-Gauge Railways, 59, 84 
Steam Locomotives, 109 
Steam Shovels, 297 

—Illustrations of, 300, 301 
Steeple Tower, 206 

—for High Hoists, 210 
—'Illustrations of, 207, 208 
—Speed of, 209 
Storage Battery Trucks, 120 
Storage Battery Locomotives, 114 
Storage, Mechanism for Building, 384 
—'Mechanism for Reclaiming Bulk 
from, 385 

Supervision, Additional, of Handling 
Equipment, 51 

Table of Capacities of Continuous 
Bucket Elevators, 268 
—of Capacities of Screw Convey¬ 
ors, 275 

—of Carrying Capacity of Trough 
Conveyors, 278 

—of Clearances for Eight-Wheel 
Locomotive Crane, 195 
—of Double Acting Rope-Geared Air 
Hoists, 330 

—of Power Required for Level Con¬ 
veyors, 245 

—of Speeds and Capacities of Elec¬ 
tric Travelling Cranes, 160 


INDEX 


403 


—of Speed and Capacity of “Im¬ 
perial” Motor Hoists, 331 
—of Speeds and Capacities of Screw 
Conveyors, 274 

—of Speeds and Capacities of Tel¬ 
phers, 220 

—of Speeds and Capacities of Tel¬ 
phers with Grab Buckets, 221 
—of Speeds for Conveyor Belts, 244 
—of Vertical and Horizontal Air 
Hoists, 330 

—of Weight and Load on Wheels 
of Locomotive Cranes, 196 
— of Widths of Belts, 242 
Telphers, 211, 212 

—Hoisting Capacities of, 219 
—Illustration of, 213 
—Illustration of Electric, 215 
—’Illustration of Open Cab, 2IS 
—Speed of, 219 

—Table of Speeds and Capacities 
of, 220 

—with Grab Buckets, Table of 
Speeds and Capacities of, 221 
Tiering Machines, 312 
—Limitations of, 313 
Time Factor in Handling Materials, 18 
Tip Cars, Illustration of, 351 
Tipples, Car, 92 

—for Standard Gauge Cars, 92 
—Mine, 95 
—Use of, 95 
Towers, Boston, 196, 206 
Towers, Hoisting, 196, 206 
—for High Hoists, 210 
—Illustrations of, 207, 208 
—Speed of, 209 
Tower, Steeple, 196, 206 
Track Systems, Narrow Gauge, 90 

Trailers, 129 

—Illustration of, 130 
Tramway, Cable, 225 
—Illustration of, 226 
Transveyors, 142 

—Illustration of Use of, 147 
—Loads for, 145 
—Operation of, 145 
—Relative Economy in Use of Hand 
and Power Operated, 148 
—versus Industrial Railways, 97 
Travelling Cranes, Hand Operated, 154 
—Power Operated, 158 
—Speeds and Capacities of, 159 

_Table of Speeds and Capacities of 

Electric, 160 
—Uses of, 159 


Trestles, Economy in Use of Elevated. 
87 

Trolley Construction of Shop Crane, 
Illustration of, 161 
Trolley Locomotives, 114 
Trolleys, Hand, Methods of Support, 
211 

Trolleys, Overhead, 211 
Trolleys, Power, 212 
—Equipment of, 214 
—Illustration of, 218 
—Layout for, 215 
—Monorail, Illustrations of, 216 
222 

—Speed of, 219 

—Special Monorail, Illustration of, 
217 

Trough Conveyor, 276 

Table of Carrying Capacity of, 
278 

Trucks, Hand, 139 

—Determination of Proper Type, 
55 

—Economy of, 54 
—Loads for, 141 
—Two Wheel, 139 

Two and Four Wheel, Illustration 
of, 124 

Trucks, Industrial, Automatically Dis¬ 
charging, 132 

—Modifications for Special Uses. 
133 

—Radius of Turning Curves for, 133 
—Storage Battery, 125 

With Elevating Platforms, Ad¬ 
vantages of, 131 
—With Lifting Platforms, 134- 
Trucks, Motor, 119 

—Fitted with Overhead Trolley and 
Chain Hoist, Illustrated, 123 
—Illustration of, 120 
—with Capstan, 123 
—with Dumping Body, Illustration 
of, 121 

—with Wheel Trailer, 121 
Trucks, Multiple-Wheel, 140 
—Illustration of, 141 
Trucks, Storage Battery, 120 
—Economy and Value of, 125 
—Illustration of, 126, 127 
—Types and Speeds of, 124 
—Types of, 128 
—with Electric Crane, 135 
Tub Rig Elevators, 196, 379 
—Illustration of, 200 
—Operation of, 201 
—Speed and Capacity of, 201 
Tubs, Coal, 348 


404 


INDEX 


Tubs, Ore, 348 

Turntable for Industrial Railways, 
Illustration of, 99 


Unloader, Hulett, 296, 381 
—Illustration of, 298 
Unloading Material, 54 

—from Railway Cars, Mechanisms 
for, 381 

—Standard Gauge Cars, 390 
—Vessels, 387, 388 
Upkeep of Apparatus, 49 

Variables in Investment Value of 
Handling Equipment, 44 
Valves, 364 
—Angle, 367 
—Ash Pit, 373 
—Cut-Off. 366 

—Feeding, Illustration of, 374 


—Locomotive Coaling, 369 
—Locomotive Coaling, Illustration 
of, 368 
—“S”, 373 

—“S”, Illustration of, 373 
—Slide, 364 
—Skip, 368 

Weighing Hoppers, 371 
—Illustration of, 372 
Weighing Machine, 370, 371 
Weights of Materials, Average, 243 
Wheelbarrows, 347 
Whip Hoists, 179 
Winches, Hand, 347 
Wind Shields, Use of, 102 
Worm Conveyors, 270 
Wrecking Cranes, Illustrations of, 184, 
185 

Yard Crane, 163 



























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